Founding Father
(chiefly, US, chiefly, in the plural) Any of the men who were responsible for the founding of the United States of America.
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Born ~1916 · 1 year of recorded useDefinitions
(chiefly, US, chiefly, in the plural) Any of the men who were responsible for the founding of the United States of America. Chiefly used to refer to political leaders who drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, and to military leaders who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
“Well, if it’s 6 May, that can only mean one thing. Yes, indeed: the 290th anniversary of inventor, scientist, statesman and US ‘founding father’ Benjamin Franklin telling readers of his Pennsylvania Gazette about a mermaid sighting in Bermuda 🧵”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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- Founder78%
(US, often, in plural) A Founding Father.
- Founder77%
In American informal and political discourse, "the Founders" or "a Founder" refers to the Founding Fathers — the statesmen who established the United States through the Declaration of Independence, the Constitutional Convention, and the early republic. The term is used both reverently and rhetorically, often invoked in debates about constitutional originalism, gun rights, or religious freedom. You'll hear it in political speech, podcasts, and Twitter arguments whenever someone wants to appeal to America's origins.
- Framers74%
(US) The Founding Fathers of the United States; those who framed the US Constitution.
- founding member61%
(US) A member of an organization that was involved in, or whose membership commenced with, the organization's foundation.
- Jefferson59%
(countable) ; (US politics) used specifically of Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), the third president of the United States, principal author of the US Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential founders of the United States.