granddad
Americannoun
Usage
What does granddad mean? Granddad is an informal word for grandfather—the father of a person’s parent. When a father’s child has their own children, that father becomes a granddad. Granddad should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Granddad that I miss him. But granddad does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to him, as in Please tell my granddad that I miss him. Example: It doesn’t matter what you call your granddad, as long as you call him.
Etymology
Origin of granddad
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.
"I've got his name on my shorts, I'll be doing my granddad proud and I'll be there to represent him."
From BBC • Mar. 4, 2026
Growing up, Liv knew her granddad and multiple siblings had lost their lives early to dementia before she was born, and she was a teenager when she started noticing her mum's out-of-character behaviour.
From BBC • Oct. 4, 2025
"My granddad was a train driver," she tells me, adding: "I'm really proud of what we're intending to do."
From BBC • May 23, 2025
The new album’s closer, “Remember My Name,” is a brass-band love song “from the perspective of my granddad to my grandmother when she had dementia and he was looking after her,” the singer said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2025
These two kids had had a lot of practice being around their teasing old granddad because they didn’t pay him no mind at all.
From "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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.
