as in nobleman
a man of high birth or social position
only a Spanish grandee—and no one of lesser rank—can address comments to the king and queen of Spain
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Recent Examples of grandee
Instead, the concept has been perverted to mean higher-ed grandees' exclusive right to determine who participates in scholarly life.
—
Ilya Shapiro, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Aug. 2025
Their accomplishments also earned them the attention of the grandees in Beijing.
—Foreign Affairs, 1 Jan. 2025
To go on about Volcker—who surely was an excellent Fed chair—is to mistake grandees for the action that mattered.
—Brian Domitrovic, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
Or has the shock of encountering the wild variety of views visible on Elon Musk’s X just been too much for grandees used to moving in circles where the acceptable boundaries of disagreement are narrowly drawn?
—The Editors, National Review, 10 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for grandee
Ilya Shapiro, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Aug. 2025
Their accomplishments also earned them the attention of the grandees in Beijing.
—Foreign Affairs, 1 Jan. 2025
To go on about Volcker—who surely was an excellent Fed chair—is to mistake grandees for the action that mattered.
—Brian Domitrovic, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
Or has the shock of encountering the wild variety of views visible on Elon Musk’s X just been too much for grandees used to moving in circles where the acceptable boundaries of disagreement are narrowly drawn?
—The Editors, National Review, 10 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for grandee
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grandee
Noun
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Ha plays the new lead, Sophie Baek, a maid and the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman, who becomes the mysterious love interest of Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), the seemingly eternal bachelor and second-oldest Bridgerton son.—
Victoria Herman,
Air Mail,
24 Jan. 2026
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Hypocrisy, the French nobleman François de La Rochefoucauld once said, is the tribute vice pays to virtue.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
3 Jan. 2026
Noun
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To be fair, the gentleman in the middle seat next to me did his best to not impinge on his neighbors, and the flight was fine.—
Roger Dooley,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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The gentleman on the seat in front of me on that plane was smoking (yes, kids, cigarettes were once permissible on airplanes) not one, but two, cigarettes that were nestled twixt three fingers on his left hand.—
Tyler Estep,
AJC.com,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Grandee.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grandee. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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