grandstand
Americannoun
-
the main seating area of a stadium, racetrack, parade route, or the like, usually consisting of tiers with rows of individual seats.
-
the people sitting in these seats.
verb (used without object)
-
grandstands,
present (3rd person singular)
-
grandstanded,
past participle, past
-
grandstanding
present participle
adjective
-
situated in a grandstand.
grandstand seats.
-
having a vantage point resembling that of a grandstand.
From our office windows on the third floor, we had a grandstand view of the parade.
-
intended to impress an onlooker or onlookers.
a grandstand catch.
noun
-
-
a terraced block of seats, usually under a roof, commanding the best view at racecourses, football pitches, etc
-
( as modifier )
grandstand tickets
-
-
the spectators in a grandstand
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(modifier) as if from a grandstand; unimpeded (esp in the phrase grandstand view )
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
grandstandsimple
-
grandstandssimple
-
have grandstandedperfect
-
has grandstandedperfect
-
am grandstandingprogressive
-
are grandstandingprogressive
-
is grandstandingprogressive
-
have been grandstandingperfect progressive
-
has been grandstandingperfect progressive
Past
-
grandstandedsimple
-
had grandstandedperfect
-
was grandstandingprogressive
-
were grandstandingprogressive
-
had been grandstandingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of grandstand
Explanation
As a noun, grandstand means a large seating area for sports spectators. As a verb, it means to show off. So if you dance around in a banana costume at the horse races, you grandstand in the grandstand. Tiered, covered seating at a racetrack or outdoor sports arena is one kind of grandstand. This word has been used since the mid-18th century, and in the late 1800s it was adapted into the baseball slang phrases grandstand player and grandstand play, which referred to theatrical, unnecessary moves athletes made simply to show off. These terms found their way into college slang around the same time, and grandstand became a common way to say "put on airs."
Vocabulary lists containing grandstand
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
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The Mighty Miss Malone
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Displacement
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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.
See Examples For:
But it wouldn’t be honest for me to grandstand that our contributors never use a tool like AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Supporters in the north grandstand, the Victoria Block, sent the team off with chants of “We Want Better.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2026
As part of the deal, TSG must pay for the demolition of the stables, grandstand and adjoining structures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026
Rather than fearing a grandstand finish, David Moyes' team clearly sensed there was still time for one final twist against a side with such defensive vulnerabilities.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026
Our rooms overlooked Lafayette Square and the North Lawn of the White House, where we could see the grandstand and metal bleachers being set up in preparation for the inaugural parade.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
She and two friends were watching for the first time from packed grandstands, having stumbled onto the competition during a weekend reunion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The Hampden ground has long been considered the first stadium where many of the aspects now common to a football stadium - such as grandstands, turnstiles and season tickets for entry - originated.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
Anyone who has never attended the race may be left to wonder: With all the pomp in the grandstands, how does anyone get a clear glimpse of the finish line?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
The cheapest tickets in the grandstands are around $35.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
Torrancers carpooled to his races and crammed the grandstands.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
And he has grandstanded constantly about Santos’ turpitude on TV.
From Slate ● Nov. 30, 2023
“Van Damme certainly grandstanded around the set – he let everyone know who the star was,” he recalls.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 16, 2018
"Performing for you is my life," Rivers grandstanded at the end, "and no one has the right to take it away from me."
From The Guardian ● Sep. 5, 2014
Worse, members of the committee grandstanded about the testimony, about Hill’s motives.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 26, 2014
You have grandstanded and posed as the debonair adventurer, until it’s come to be second nature.
From The Key to Yesterday by Charles Neville Buck
Elon Musk has made several grandstanding predictions about when he believes humankind will reach the red planet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
Instead, officials “chose grandstanding instead of the normal process” and arrested Williamson at home Wednesday, despite her being seriously ill and in need of a liver transplant, Scott said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025
But it is so firmly grounded in truthful and complicated detail drawn from Mr. Dunne’s actual experience that it makes its powerful moral argument without any need for grandstanding or preaching.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2025
There is more to Noah Lyles than just the showmanship, the grandstanding and the dyed orange hair.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2025
I figured he was just grandstanding, sucking up the media’s attention because he could.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
