grandparent
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does grandparent mean? A grandparent is the parent of a person’s parent. When a parent’s child has children, that parent becomes a grandparent. Grandmothers and grandfathers are grandparents. A parent of a grandparent is called a great-grandparent. In your family tree, you have four grandparents and eight great-grandparents. Most people refer to their grandparents with titles like grandma and grandpa. Example: It doesn’t matter what you call your grandparents, as long as you call them.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of grandparent
Explanation
A grandparent is your parent's parent. Your dad's mother is your grandparent, and so is your mom's father. If you're lucky enough to have living grandparents, then that's pretty grand. Most people have a special name for each of their grandparents, whether it's "Grandma," "Grandpa Bob," or "Nana." Others never have the chance to meet their grandparents, but everyone has them. The word grandparent, first used at the start of the nineteenth century, uses grand in its sense of "a generation older than." Your grandparents are a generation older than your parents.
Vocabulary lists containing grandparent
It's All in the Family
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September Words
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Unit 10
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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:
One younger person asked for help handling the finances of his grandparent, which fell to him because the generation above him doesn’t get along and couldn’t come to a consensus on any financial matters.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
Nana, my only living grandparent, is an immigrant from Mexico.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
Elderly people are particularly vulnerable, with experts warning of rising cases of "grandparent scams."
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said he is “personally troubled by the idea that we need to deport someone because of who their grandparent is.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
Then I’ll have to figure out which parent to live with and which grandparent to visit.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
Born in L.A. in 1926, she was raised between Pasadena and Watts, where her paternal grandparents lived.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
All four of my grandparents came to this country in the early 20th century—from England, Poland and Russia—with nothing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
They had grandparents for the kids to stay with, so they did not go—as tens of thousands do each year—into state custody, with the many attendant traumas that entails.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
One of my favorite stories involves his grandparents.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
The thought of aunts and uncles and grandparents waiting for her there was cheering.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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.
