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great-uncle

American  
[grayt-uhng-kuhl] / ˈgreɪtˌʌŋ kəl /

noun

  • great-uncles
    plural
  1. a granduncle.


great-uncle British  

noun

  1. an uncle of one's father or mother; brother of one's grandfather or grandmother

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


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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.

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This earned Agrippa the gratitude of his friend’s great-uncle, Julius Caesar, the conqueror of Gaul and dictator of Rome.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

My great-uncle Dan was a diocesan priest at St. Charles Borromeo in Drexel Hill, Pa. Dan was a fire-and-brimstone hard-liner.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026

The new arrival - who will not be an HRH - will be 15th in line to the throne, moving ahead of their great-uncle the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward.

From BBC ● May 4, 2026

So far, "Sinners" is perhaps his most personal project -- sparked by wanting to learn more about a great-uncle who had introduced him to the blues and was from Mississippi.

From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026

He walks in the tweed trousers of Marie-Laure’s great-uncle; over his shoulder, he carries his duffel.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

They were parents, grandparents, great-aunts and great-uncles, ranging in age from their 50s to their 80s and beyond, and together they braved frigid temperatures to protest all through the night, and to rock.

From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2023

Mr. Cullinane, a native Washingtonian known as “Cully,” followed his father, two great-uncles and other relatives onto the D.C. force in 1955 following Navy service in the Korean War.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2023

Volodymyr Zelensky has often told his "story of four brothers" - his grandfather and three great-uncles - all of whom fought in the Soviet Army against Nazi Germany.

From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2022

“My great-uncles were four-man pilots. My dad was training, he was an Olympic hopeful, in four-man. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just in my DNA.”

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2022

The tables were crowded with tall people reaching for bowls of food and talking too loud; cousins and great-uncles and friends from far away.

From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson

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