grandstand
Americannoun
-
the main seating area of a stadium, racetrack, parade route, or the like, usually consisting of tiers with rows of individual seats.
-
the people sitting in these seats.
verb (used without object)
-
grandstands,
present (3rd person singular)
-
grandstanded,
past participle, past
-
grandstanding
present participle
adjective
-
situated in a grandstand.
grandstand seats.
-
having a vantage point resembling that of a grandstand.
From our office windows on the third floor, we had a grandstand view of the parade.
-
intended to impress an onlooker or onlookers.
a grandstand catch.
noun
-
-
a terraced block of seats, usually under a roof, commanding the best view at racecourses, football pitches, etc
-
( as modifier )
grandstand tickets
-
-
the spectators in a grandstand
-
(modifier) as if from a grandstand; unimpeded (esp in the phrase grandstand view )
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
grandstandsimple
-
grandstandssimple
-
have grandstandedperfect
-
has grandstandedperfect
-
am grandstandingprogressive
-
are grandstandingprogressive
-
is grandstandingprogressive
-
have been grandstandingperfect progressive
-
has been grandstandingperfect progressive
Past
-
grandstandedsimple
-
had grandstandedperfect
-
was grandstandingprogressive
-
were grandstandingprogressive
-
had been grandstandingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of grandstand
Explanation
As a noun, grandstand means a large seating area for sports spectators. As a verb, it means to show off. So if you dance around in a banana costume at the horse races, you grandstand in the grandstand. Tiered, covered seating at a racetrack or outdoor sports arena is one kind of grandstand. This word has been used since the mid-18th century, and in the late 1800s it was adapted into the baseball slang phrases grandstand player and grandstand play, which referred to theatrical, unnecessary moves athletes made simply to show off. These terms found their way into college slang around the same time, and grandstand became a common way to say "put on airs."
Vocabulary lists containing grandstand
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
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The Mighty Miss Malone
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Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation
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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:
"For us Formula 1 fans, it's really great to have a race at home!" says Rodrigo Gil, a 30-year-old engineer from Madrid, as he watches free practice from a grandstand at Turn 8.
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
But it wouldn’t be honest for me to grandstand that our contributors never use a tool like AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Not prepared to give up their quest for just a fifth win on New Zealand soil, France hit back when Jalibert's 78th-minute try set up a grandstand finish.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Supporters in the north grandstand, the Victoria Block, sent the team off with chants of “We Want Better.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2026
An expansive grassy area had been laid out along the water to the east of the grandstand to accommodate another ten thousand standing spectators.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
There are two spectator grandstands at Piccadilly and on Cockspur Street, close to Trafalgar Square.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Anyone who has never attended the race may be left to wonder: With all the pomp in the grandstands, how does anyone get a clear glimpse of the finish line?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
The cheapest tickets in the grandstands are around $35.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
Umbrellas are prohibited in the parade grandstands, and spectators are encouraged to leave them at home if they’re standing elsewhere along the route, said Candy Carlson, a spokesperson for the Tournament of Roses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2025
Both coxswains could see the grandstands and the large black-and-white sign, “Ziel,” demarking the finish line up ahead, but neither was ready to make his move yet.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
And he has grandstanded constantly about Santos’ turpitude on TV.
From Slate ● Nov. 30, 2023
“Van Damme certainly grandstanded around the set – he let everyone know who the star was,” he recalls.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 16, 2018
"Performing for you is my life," Rivers grandstanded at the end, "and no one has the right to take it away from me."
From The Guardian ● Sep. 5, 2014
Worse, members of the committee grandstanded about the testimony, about Hill’s motives.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 26, 2014
You have grandstanded and posed as the debonair adventurer, until it’s come to be second nature.
From The Key to Yesterday by Charles Neville Buck
You have the extremes that call the ball on so many debates, partly I guess it’s social media, TikTok, it’s the grandstanding by members.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Elon Musk has made several grandstanding predictions about when he believes humankind will reach the red planet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
Instead, officials “chose grandstanding instead of the normal process” and arrested Williamson at home Wednesday, despite her being seriously ill and in need of a liver transplant, Scott said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025
But grandstanding for the committee isn't Davie or Shah's style either.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2025
I figured he was just grandstanding, sucking up the media’s attention because he could.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
