heir presumptive

1. 1.

   a person who expects to inherit but whose right can be defeated by the birth of a nearer relative

   Antonymsheir apparent

   Broaderheir

Questions about heir presumptive

What does heir presumptive mean?

heir presumptive means "a person who expects to inherit but whose right can be defeated by the birth of a nearer relative".

What is the opposite of heir presumptive?

The recorded antonyms are heir apparent.

Is heir presumptive a common word?

heir presumptive is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.