grandma
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does grandma mean? Grandma is an informal word for grandmother—the mother of a person’s parent.When a mother’s child has their own children, that mother becomes a grandma. The word ma is an informal way to say mother.Grandma is often combined with a name, especially when a person has two grandmothers that they call Grandma, as in Grandma Marg and Grandma Marie. Should grandma be capitalized?Grandma should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Grandma that I miss her. But grandma does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to her, as in Please tell my grandma that I miss her. Example: It doesn’t matter what you call your grandma, as long as you call her.
Etymology
Origin of grandma
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.
Their home is colorful and has a touch of “grandma chic,” since Poer’s grandmother, Gigi, left him the contents of her Atlanta home.
From Los Angeles Times
"My grandma sent me a postcard from Florida," Rosie said, "and it had an alligator on it."
From Literature
“I still put flowers on Mary Fitzgerald’s grave to this day. And I expectViolet will do the same after I’m gone. Violet’s got her grandma’s fiery hair—and her fiery spirit too, I hope.”
From Literature
“Your mama is more fragile than people think. And since your grandma died, there’s been nobody lookin’ out for her.”
From Literature
Video of their first gig, at a nursing home, leaked on TikTok with the caption “What is happening at my grandma’s nursing home rn.”
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.
