grandee
Americannoun
noun
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a Spanish or Portuguese prince or nobleman of the highest rank
-
a man of great rank or eminence
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of grandee
1590–1600; < Spanish, Portuguese grande, with ending assimilated to -ee
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Those files exposed a friendship between the convicted sex offender and Peter Mandelson, a Labour Party grandee and Mr. Starmer’s choice for ambassador to Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
An even more welcome addition to our already bulging shelves is the belated arrival of a largely complete studio discography of Britain’s greatest conductor, and certainly its most self-possessed: the musical grandee Sir Thomas Beecham.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025
The former Olympic athlete, who has died at the age of 84, had an urbane manner and "grandee" style, although it belied more humble origins.
From BBC • Sep. 26, 2025
However, a Welsh Labour grandee said the party was facing "the biggest kicking in our history".
From BBC • Sep. 20, 2025
Its high, somewhat stiff collar against my neck, the wide cuffs touching my wrists, the rich material against my skin excited a sense of strangeness and distinction; I felt like some nobleman, some Spanish grandee.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
