grandpappy
Americannoun
plural
grandpappiesUsage
What does grandpappy mean? Grandpappy is an informal word for grandfather—the father of a person’s parent. A much more common synonym is grandpa. The word pappy is an informal way to say father (and it’s sometimes also used as an informal term for grandfather). Grandpappy should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Grandpappy that I miss him. But grandpappy does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to him, as in Please tell my grandpappy that I miss him. Example: It doesn’t matter what you call your grandpappy, as long as you call him.
Etymology
Origin of grandpappy
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.
I’m thinking specifically about that grandpappy of all chef-driven hamburgers, the DB Burger, which French mastermind Daniel Boulud unleashed in the early 2000s.
From Washington Post • Aug. 20, 2018
What began as a whimsical indulgence some 90 years ago at Glyndebourne, the grandpappy of all English summer opera festivals, has turned into a season that now counts more than a dozen such events.
From New York Times • May 24, 2016
Fla. -- Florida's first course, laid out by the grandpappy of Florida golf, J. Hamilton Gillespie.
From Golf Digest • Oct. 13, 2010
Ebensburg, Pa. Sir: You forgot one small detail�that the Joshua Liebman opus, Peace of Mind, was the grandpappy of them all.
From Time Magazine Archive
Pa told me my grandpappy said the devil himself couldn’t knock this one over.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
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.
