Definition of legateenext
as in heir
a person who has the right to inherit property the couple had no children, so they declared their nephew their only legatee

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of legatee The old immigrants are likely to remain—in the manner of the occasional Wasp legatee (Wagner, Lindsay) who poked in during the buoyant sixties—more visitors to wars over civic power than victors in them. Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026 Trump and allies, meanwhile, often cast him as legatee of Reagan. David Jackson, USA TODAY, 8 Sep. 2024 The couple whom Perry sees on the house tour are at once beneficiaries of the school’s past participation in slavery and legatees of an effort of historical recovery that Swarns’s book both chronicles and carries forward. Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 27 June 2023 Humans, as legatees of this heritage, learn by seeing and visualizing. Stephen Jay Gould, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019 Columbus was not, as is well-known to the ungrateful modern-day legatees of his conquest, a perfect man. John Hirschauer, National Review, 14 Oct. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legatee
heir
Noun
  • And the wandering king’s son and heir, Telemachus (Tom Holland), is convinced his father is still alive and sets off to find him.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 1 Aug. 2026
  • For a while, this kind of durational performance was mostly the province of Madonna’s artier heirs, such as Lady Gaga.
    Mitch Therieau, New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Legatee.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legatee. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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