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:
And the good news is that the grandparent role comes in many forms today and no longer has to rely on a genetic link.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
“He’s advocating for the grandparent to make sure their needs are addressed,” Zealand said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
He also has a third grandparent from County Cavan.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Nana, my only living grandparent, is an immigrant from Mexico.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
“That’s fine, young one. Stop on by whenever you want. The drive-in is open seven days a week, thirteen moon cycles a year. But there’s always a legendary grandparent or two around.”
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
It's clear from the data that 25-year-olds who are in work are likely to be earning more than their parents were at that age, and a lot more than their grandparents received.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
“I’m not sure what they would have thought as far as having gay descendants,” Dorothy said of her distant grandparents.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
He said that the franchise's longevity was due to "all the people like you and your parents and your grandparents, because of their intelligence and their sensitivity and their vision" in supporting Gene Roddenberry's concept.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Living with older adults also helped him fill an absence in his life created by the loss of his grandparents when he was about 6 years old, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
We sat at my favorite picnic table, the one where my grandparents had their own first date fifty years ago.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
