Did you know?
In Medieval Spain and Portugal, the grandes ("great ones," from Latin grandis, meaning "great") were at the pinnacle of the ranks of rich and powerful nobles. A grandee (as it came to be spelled in English) could wear a hat in the presence of the king and queen—the height of privilege—and he alone could address a letter directly to royalty. (Even Christopher Columbus had to direct his reports of the New World to an important noble at court, who read them to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.) Today the term can still be applied to nobility, but it can also be used for anyone of importance and influence anywhere, such as the "pin-striped grandees of London's financial district."
Examples of grandee in a Sentence
Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 17 June 2024
His paintings had mostly been for grandees, Goya’s patrons at the Spanish court, but his prints were instead about them — and about ordinary Spanish people.
—Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2024
Money that was meant to go toward her presidential run was instead spent on the campaign’s of old political grandees looking to preserve any inkling of their past power.
—Alex González Ormerod, TIME, 30 May 2024
Non-musical segments featured such Hollywood grandees as Jack Benny and George Burns along with promising new comedians like David Steinberg and Steve Martin.
—Fred A. Bernstein, Washington Post, 27 Dec. 2023
See all Example Sentences for grandee 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grandee.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near grandee
Cite this Entry
“Grandee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grandee. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
grandee
noun
Share