grandpappy

Also grand·pap

[gran-pap-ee, grand-, gram-]

noun

Dialect.

plural

grandpappies 

1. grandfather.

Word History and Origins

Origin of grandpappy¹

First recorded in 1935–40; grand- + pappy ²

Example Sentences

“Now I have an entourage of country performers who think I’m their grandpappy.”

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"Been a long time. Used to go down south to visit my grandpappy and he'd always have that kind of stuff in his pocket. Be all melted and still be good. And Grandma used to give us strawberry candy, and when she ran out, she'd give us cherry Life Savers."

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“This fella might be my grandpappy.”

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“I was petrified and couldn’t go to sleep. We had the Mud Lake Monster, and we had Grandpappy.”

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It’s not uncommon for camps to have their own camp-specific stories and legends, the way Minikani has the Mud Lake Monster and Grandpappy and IHC has something named Cropsey.

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Related Words

• ancestor 
• grandpa 
• patriarch 

When To Use

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.