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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Hypocrisy, the French nobleman François de La Rochefoucauld once said, is the tribute vice pays to virtue.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
3 Jan. 2026
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After the Sicilian nobleman added a large wing in 1896, one of Europe’s first grand hotels was born, and business started booming almost immediately as Taormina was quickly becoming a popular vacation spot for European tourists.—
Hannah Chubb,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 Jan. 2026
Noun
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To give you a sense of what happens here, it was given to me by this gentleman as a everybody kept it secret until Sunday afternoon.—
Bruce Martin,
Forbes.com,
18 Jan. 2026
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Spanberger and her husband, Virginia's new first gentleman, were also set to host an inaugural ball Saturday night at Main Street Station.—
Josh Meyer,
USA Today,
17 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Grandee.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grandee. Accessed 23 Jan. 2026.
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