granddaddy

variants also grandaddy
as in ancestor
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed the granddaddy of all English mystery novels

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of granddaddy Bonilla has the granddaddy of all deferred deals, and July 1 is his biggest day of the year. Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 1 July 2025 He's won the Indy 500 (still considered the granddaddy of the Indy series) back-to-back, in 2023 and 2024. Tracy Smith, CBS News, 15 June 2025 First came Kodak, the granddaddy of them all, founded in Rochester, New York, in 1892. Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 6 June 2025 High Rye Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey As the granddaddy of them all, it was founded in 1969, the International Wine and Spirit Competition has a long history of discovering the finest bottles in the world. Hudson Lindenberger, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for granddaddy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for granddaddy
Noun
  • In 2024, some 75 representatives gathered in Pegli, near Genoa, their ancestors’ home.
    Miquel Ros, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Dogs’ tendency to chase or bark at cats often stems from their natural prey drive, a leftover instinct from their wild ancestors.
    Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Compared to their forerunners in the tsarist era, with their party congresses held abroad, their executive committees, and their active recruitment in imperial Russia’s universities, Soviet dissidents remained a comparatively small and informal conglomeration of activists.
    Benjamin Nathans September 24, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2025
  • The event turned out to be a forerunner to the UN Earth Summit.
    Ted Johnson, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • This was a stark contrast to the house’s recent collections by Lagerfeld’s predecessor, Virginie Viard, who played things very safe and conservative.
    Mecca Pryor, Essence, 8 Oct. 2025
  • In doing so, Piccioli subtly weaves in his own creative quirks, while winking (from behind dark glasses) at his predecessor — a way of not entirely unsettling the clientele won over during the previous decade.
    Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Granddaddy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/granddaddy. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.

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