grampa

[gram-pah, -paw, -puh]

noun

Informal.

1. grandfather.

Word History and Origins

Origin of grampa¹

First recorded in 1850–55; alteration of grandpa ( def. )

Example Sentences

He returned to us as a hard-of-hearing grampa putting up with his kid loudly banging his girlfriend in the other room, morosely insisting to Carrie that he was fully devoted to the promise of 'til death do us part.

Read more on Salon

I wasn’t sure just how Mr. Patterson’s grampa mobile translated to a limousine, but I felt so grateful that we might actually get to Maine that I blurted out, “You wanna come too?”

Read more on Literature

“I made it. My grampa carves them, and I paint them. He was a pretty famous angler. People around here call him Kingfish. I’d love a nickname like that.”

Read more on Literature

“I added the eyelashes and lips. Grampa doesn’t much like them. He’s more of a traditionalist when it comes to lures. And most everything else.”

Read more on Literature

Dear Amy: “Grampa” was worried that his grandsons were overweight.

Read more on Washington Post

When To Use

What does grampa mean?

Grampa is an informal word for grandfather—the father of a person’s parent.It’s a variant of the word grandpa, which is commonly pronounced like grampa.Grampa should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Grampa that I miss him. But grampa does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to him, as in Please tell my grampa that I miss him. Example: It doesn’t matter what you call your grampa, as long as you call him.