granddad
Americannoun
Usage
What does granddad mean? Granddad is an informal word for grandfather—the father of a person’s parent. When a father’s child has their own children, that father becomes a granddad. Granddad should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Granddad that I miss him. But granddad does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to him, as in Please tell my granddad that I miss him. Example: It doesn’t matter what you call your granddad, as long as you call him.
Etymology
Origin of granddad
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.
The rain pours down so often that you can’t help but snort when the film cuts to Whitford’s granddad angrily watering his lawn.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026
Michael Kitching suspects his granddad did not know about it because of the social shame.
From BBC • Feb. 9, 2026
"My granddad was a train driver," she tells me, adding: "I'm really proud of what we're intending to do."
From BBC • May 23, 2025
The new album’s closer, “Remember My Name,” is a brass-band love song “from the perspective of my granddad to my grandmother when she had dementia and he was looking after her,” the singer said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2025
"You never seen a ring of light around the moon? My granddad taught me to look for them when I was a kid. Sure way to tell what weather's coming around the corner."
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
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.
