grandpa
Americannoun
-
grandpas
plural
noun
Usage
What does grandpa mean? Grandpa 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 grandpa. The word pa is an informal way to say father. Grandpa is often combined with a name, especially when a person has two grandfathers that they call Grandpa, as in Grandpa Carl andGrandpa Frank. Should grandpa be capitalized?Grandpa should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Grandpa that I miss him. But grandpa does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to him, as in Please tell my grandpa that I miss him. Example: It doesn’t matter what you call your grandpa, as long as you call him.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of grandpa
Explanation
Your grandpa is your grandfather; in other words, your grandpa is your mom or dad's dad. Grandpa is the most common name people use for their grandfather, but you might call yours "Gramps." While you may refer to him as your grandfather, you're more likely to call him grandpa. It's an informal, childish nickname, a shortened form of grandpappa, most popular in the 1700s, which spawned grandpappy and grandpop as well. When you are referring to your mom or dad's mother, you can replace the "p" with an "m" and use the word (yes, you guessed it!) 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.
See Examples For:
Similarly, Woody, who rode off into the sunset in the last entry and here returns with a weather-beaten bald spot, gets treated like a human grandpa shrunk down to doll-size.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
"Was grandpa a Nazi?" asked the headlines on news stories across Germany.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
"His dad was a cop, his grandpa was a cop, and he just got hired onto NYPD, too," she said.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
“Your grandpa would be ashamed of your boys,” reads its website.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 7, 2026
Grandmary runs one of his grandpa Joe’s charter boats down here in Sitka every summer when Grandpa Joe needs help during the tourist season.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
"Be good when you get to the rainbow bridge, play with the older brothers and sisters, grandpas and grandmas from the neighbourhood," one user wrote.
From Barron's ● Dec. 2, 2025
“You look at bands that have been around for this long, and it’s these angry, bitter grandpas who are always feuding and can’t get along,” Puget says via Zoom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2025
Hairy-backed grandpas are yielding to upwardly mobile startup founders and creative types.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2025
“Chimaeras are also rather ancient relatives – the grandmas and grandpas – of fish and I thought the name was well suited.”
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2024
“That’s what grandpas are for, isn’t it? Don’t worry about catching those monkeys. Before you know it, we’ll have every one of them in the sack.”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
