grandmotherly
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does grandmotherly mean? Grandmotherly is an adjective that most commonly means like a grandmother. It’s especially used in a positive way to describe someone as being kind, nurturing, and protective—like a good grandmother who loves and cares for her grandchild(ren). Describing someone as grandmotherly often implies that they listen and give good advice—it’s perhaps most commonly used in the phrase grandmotherly advice. Grandmotherly is most often used to describe grandmothers themselves, but it can be applied to someone who’s not a grandmother, as in After my grandmother died, I started relying on my Great Aunt Jane for grandmotherly support. Grandmotherly is one of many similar adjectives based on family relations, including motherly, fatherly, grandfatherly, brotherly, and sisterly. Example: Many of my most important life lessons came in the form of grandmotherly advice from my kindly Grandma Rose.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of grandmotherly
First recorded in 1835–45; grandmother + -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.
The grandmotherly driving of today’s Waymos conjures images of two, excessively polite Midwesterners locked at an intersection, each beckoning the other to go first, back and forth in perpetuity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 7, 2025
Her grandmotherly Sunja wears an unbothered determination fiercely throughout the season, especially when a shameful insult to which she’s subjected gives rise to an unexpected friendship that’s both affirming and potentially renewing.
From Salon • Aug. 23, 2024
But her relative anonymity, squeaky clean record and affectionate grandmotherly air have fast become part of her appeal.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 25, 2024
Her bearing onstage is both regal and grandmotherly, and her young musicians refer to her as Queen Elizabeth, or simply Queen.
From New York Times • May 23, 2023
Joey likes to have someone look after him, fussing about whether or not he’s getting enough sleep and eating enough fiber and all those other grandmotherly things.
From "Lawn Boy Returns" by Gary Paulsen
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.
