The rich merchant adopted the boy and made him his heir.
Source: tatoeba (18519)
Heir
/ɛɚ/
Synonyms for "heir" (88 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (18)
Noun(3 words)
aftermathapparent heirbackup manbeneficiarybeneficiary heirbreedbroodchildrencome bycome intoconclusionconsequencecoparcenerdescendantdescendants
Strong matches (26)
Noun(3 words)
descentdynastyeffectfamilyfideicommissary heirfiduciary heirfruitgrandchildrengreat-grandchildrenheir apparentheir expectantheir generalheir in tailheir of entailheir of inventoryheir of lineheir portionerheir presumptiveheir whatsoeverheiress
Related words (44)
inheritorinheritorsinheritressinheritrixissuejoint heirkidslegateelinelineagelittle onesnew generationnext in lineoffshootoffspringorphanposteritypresumptive heirprogenyrecipient
Show 17 more words
Noun(7 words)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: inheritor, successor, aftermath, apparent heir, backup man.
- Sentence evidence is available for heir, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, moby, derived_reverse, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "heir".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "heir"
Keep "heir" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "heir" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "heir", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "heir" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
8 entriesMore specific
6 entriesCollocations
6 entriesheir apparentlegal heirline of successionnatural heirrightful heirsole heir
Inflections
1 entriesDerivations
1 entriesTranslations
145 translations across 84 languages.
Albanian
1 entries- trashëgimtar noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Ancient Greek
1 entries- κληρόνομος noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Arabic
4 entries- وارس noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- ورتة noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- وَارِث noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- وَارِثَة noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Aragonese
1 entries- hereu noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Armenian
1 entries- ժառանգ noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Asturian
1 entries- herederu noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- varis noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Basque
3 entries- jaraunsle noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- oinorde noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- oinordeko noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Belarusian
2 entries- насле́днік noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- насле́дніца noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Bulgarian
2 entries- насле́дник noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- насле́дничка noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Catalan
2 entries- hereter noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- hereu noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Cebuano
1 entries- manununod noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Chinese Mandarin
2 entries- 繼承人 /继承人 noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- 繼承者 /继承者 noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Czech
2 entries- dědic noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- dědička noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Danish
1 entries- arving noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Dutch
2 entries- erfgenaam noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- erfgename noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Egyptian
1 entries- E9-w-a-w-A1 noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Esperanto
1 entries- heredanto noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Estonian
1 entries- pärija noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Extremaduran
1 entries- hereeru noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Finnish
2 entries- perijä noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- perillinen noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
French
4 entries- héritier noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- héritière noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- successeur noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- successeuse noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Galician
2 entries- herdeiro noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- heree noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Georgian
1 entries- მემკვიდრე noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
German
2 entries- Erbe noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- Erbin noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Gothic
2 entries- 𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌾𐌰 noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- 𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌾𐍉 noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Greek
1 entries- κληρονόμος noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Hebrew
2 entries- יוֹרֵשׁ noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- יורשת noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Higaonon
1 entries- manonod noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Hindi
1 entries- उत्तराधिकारी noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Hungarian
1 entries- örökös noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Hunsrik
1 entries- Erreb noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Icelandic
1 entries- erfingi noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Indonesian
1 entries- pewaris noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Irish
2 entries- beangán noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- oidhre noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Italian
2 entries- erede noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- ereditiera noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Japanese
3 entries- 相続人 noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- 継承者 noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- 跡取り noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Kabuverdianu
1 entries- erderu noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Kashubian
1 entries- dzedzéc noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Kazakh
1 entries- мұрагер noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Khmer
1 entries- ទាយាទ noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Korean
2 entries- 계승자 noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- 상속인 noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Kyrgyz
2 entries- мураскор noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- мурасчы noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Lao
1 entries- ທາຍາດ noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Latin
1 entries- hērēs noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Latvian
2 entries- mantiniece noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- mantinieks noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Lithuanian
3 entries- paveldėtoja noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- paveldėtojas noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- įpėdinis noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Lower Sorbian
1 entries- derbnik noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Macedonian
2 entries- наследник noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- наследничка noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Malay
2 entries- pewaris noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- waris noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Māori
3 entries- kairīwhi noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- kaiwhakakapi noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- whākapi noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Northern Kurdish
2 entries- mîratgir noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- wêris noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- arving noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Occitan
1 entries- eiretièr noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Old Czech
1 entries- erb noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Old English
1 entries- ierfa noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Pashto
1 entries- وارث noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Persian
1 entries- وارث noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Piedmontese
1 entries- erede noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Plautdietsch
1 entries- Oaw noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Polish
4 entries- dziedzic noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- dziedziczka noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- spadkobierca noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- spadkobierczyni noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Portuguese
1 entries- herdeiro noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Romanian
2 entries- moștenitoare noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- moștenitor noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Russian
2 entries- насле́дник noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- насле́дница noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Scottish Gaelic
1 entries- oighre noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- následnica noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- následnīk noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- násljednica noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- násljednīk noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Slovak
2 entries- dedič noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- dedička noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Slovene
2 entries- dedinja noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- dedič noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Spanish
2 entries- cabalero noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- heredero noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Swahili
1 entries- mrithi noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Swedish
3 entries- arvinge noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- arvtagare noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- arvtagerska noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Tagalog
1 entries- tagapagmana noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Tajik
1 entries- ворис noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Tatar
1 entries- варис noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Thai
1 entries- ทายาท noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Turkish
2 entries- mirasçı noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- vâris noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Ugaritic
1 entries- 𐎐𐎈𐎍 noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Ukrainian
4 entries- наслі́дник noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- наслі́дниця noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- спадкоє́мець noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- спадкоє́миця noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Urdu
1 entries- وارث noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Uyghur
1 entries- ۋارىس noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Uzbek
2 entries- merosxoʻr noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- voris noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Vietnamese
1 entries- người thừa kế noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Walloon
2 entries- eritresse noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- eritî noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Welsh
3 entries- aer noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- aerod noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
- etifedd noun (one who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another)
Sample sentences
23 total sentences available.
Which prince is the legitimate heir to the throne?
Source: tatoeba (37965)
"Air" and "heir" are homophones.
Source: tatoeba (73723)
The king's eldest son is the heir to the throne.
Source: tatoeba (241365)
Showing 4 of 23 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "heir"?
Closest matches include inheritor, successor, aftermath, apparent heir, backup man.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "heir"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.