grand old man
noun
: a venerated practitioner or former practitioner of an art, profession, or sport
the grand old man of jazz
Examples of grand old man in a Sentence
the grand old man of the American theater
Recent Examples on the Web
My family had rented an Airbnb, and sitting on the small stove was that grand old man of stovetop coffee: the Mokapot.
—
Noah Kaufman, Bon Appétit, 11 Mar. 2024
Just a kid against Enzo's grand old man.
—Elana Scherr, Car and Driver, 5 Dec. 2022
By his side, Caracas finds a grand old man, a novelist who wanders with him into the depths of the Neapolitan underworld.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 13 Feb. 2023
Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, the grand old man of Dutch physics, who had anticipated much of the development of special relativity two decades earlier and whom Einstein himself held in the highest regard.
—Adam Becker, Scientific American, 22 Nov. 2022
The good news is that Pacifiction, the latest feature from Catalan auteur Albert Serra, who’s only in his 40s but directs like a grand old man of the 1960s avant-garde, is quite watchable, even sort of plot-driven — for a Serra film.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 May 2022
Three new biographical works suggest something of the pitfalls that beset anyone attempting to get the grand old man of British Romanticism down on paper.
—Kathryn Hughes, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020
Noah Kaufman, Bon Appétit, 11 Mar. 2024
Just a kid against Enzo's grand old man.
—Elana Scherr, Car and Driver, 5 Dec. 2022
By his side, Caracas finds a grand old man, a novelist who wanders with him into the depths of the Neapolitan underworld.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 13 Feb. 2023
Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, the grand old man of Dutch physics, who had anticipated much of the development of special relativity two decades earlier and whom Einstein himself held in the highest regard.
—Adam Becker, Scientific American, 22 Nov. 2022
The good news is that Pacifiction, the latest feature from Catalan auteur Albert Serra, who’s only in his 40s but directs like a grand old man of the 1960s avant-garde, is quite watchable, even sort of plot-driven — for a Serra film.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 May 2022
Three new biographical works suggest something of the pitfalls that beset anyone attempting to get the grand old man of British Romanticism down on paper.
—Kathryn Hughes, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grand old man.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1838, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near grand old man
Cite this Entry
“Grand old man.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grand%20old%20man. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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