grace-and-favour

British

noun

(modifier) (of a house, flat, etc) owned by the sovereign and granted free of rent to a person to whom the sovereign wishes to express gratitude

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

At the same time, the US president travelled to Chequers, the prime minister's grace-and-favour residence in Buckinghamshire, for diplomatic talks.

From BBC • Sep. 18, 2025

Ms Truss has invited Maroš Šefčovič, the EU's chief negotiator, to Chevening, a 115-room grace-and-favour country mansion in Kent, for an overnight stay.

From BBC • Jan. 12, 2022

He passes his time farming on one of Mr Obiang’s grace-and-favour estates.

From Economist • Jan. 4, 2018

Will it come from Sally Bercow's grace-and-favour Westminster home?

From The Guardian • Jun. 15, 2013

Ijaz Butt is a peripheral figure in Pakistan cricket, his position a grace-and-favour nepotic appointment.

From The Guardian • Sep. 20, 2010

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023