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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
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 June 2026
The grandees of the Democratic Party may want to move on.
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Keith Naughton,
The Washington Examiner,
14 Mar. 2026
To further add fuel to the fire, Vinod Khosla, the Silicon Valley grandee warned at the AI summit that the country’s IT services industry will cease to exist in its current form by 2030.
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Vasuki Shastry,
Forbes.com,
14 Mar. 2026
Days earlier, the longtime political grandee who had a reputation as a ruthless political fixer, had stepped down as a member of the House of Lords.
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Camille Behnke,
NBC news,
23 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for grandee
Cite this Entry
“Grandee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grandee. Accessed 3 Jul. 2026.
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grandee
noun
