grandfatherly
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does grandfatherly mean? Grandfatherly is an adjective that most commonly means like a grandfather. It’s especially used in a positive way to describe someone as being kind, nurturing, and protective—like a good grandfather who loves and cares for his grandchild(ren). Describing someone as grandfatherly often implies that they listen and give good advice—it’s perhaps most commonly used in the phrase grandfatherly advice. Grandfatherly is most often used to describe grandfathers themselves, but it can be applied to someone who’s not a grandfather, as in After my grandfather died, I started relying on my Great Uncle Joe for grandfatherly support. Grandfatherly is one of many similar adjectives based on family relations, including motherly, fatherly, grandmotherly, brotherly, and sisterly. Example: Many of my most important life lessons came in the form of grandfatherly advice from my kindly Grandpa George.
Etymology
Origin of grandfatherly
First recorded in 1815–25; grandfather + -ly
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.
But that grandfatherly approach sometimes extended to its hundreds of billions in publicly traded stocks, too.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
What some thought would be the day on which the US president laid down the laws of his new global economy was filled more with grandfatherly advice.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
But he is no longer a grandfatherly type in morning trousers that stays in the background, if not out of sight.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2024
A grinning, grandmotherly type poses as if for a friendly cellphone snapshot, a cheery bulldog yapping at her feet and a grandfatherly type sitting quietly in a room behind her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2022
It was so much a part of my life I remember every detail of him: the clear-rimmed glasses and spotted tie, the broad smile, the grandfatherly bald head like a warm, bright light bulb.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
