grand airn.
/ˌɡrand ˈɛː/, U.S. /ˌɡrænd ˈɛ(ə)r/ An air of distinction; a noble appearance; also (in bad sense) an affected haughtiness of manner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > haughtiness or disdainfulness > [noun] > manner or appearance
altitudes?a1625
grand air1672
the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > splendour, magnificence, or pomp > [noun] > manner or appearance
grand air1672
air1673
1672 tr. R. Rapin Refl. upon Eloquence of Times 25 The grand Air [Fr. le grand air] of Eloquence ought to be in great places, and in great Assemblies, where we find a general concourse.
1775 H. Walpole Lett. (1857) VI. 212 I like the hotel d'Harcourt; it has grand air and a kind of Louis XIV old fashionhood.
1863 ‘Ouida’ Held in Bondage I. i. 4 He had more of the ‘grand air’ about him than anyone else I had ever seen.
1881 H. James Portrait of Lady II. xvii. 207 The proportions of the windows, and even the details of the cornice, had quite the grand air.
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage cxiii. 704 Some of the houses he went to..though dilapidated, with worm–eaten floors and leaking roofs, had the grand air.
1941 Pop. Mech. Aug. 71/1 All have a grand air, a charming manner that cannot be found elsewhere in Africa.
2013 Evening Standard (Nexis) 15 Nov. 44 These superbly mannered pronouncements give the whole enterprise a grand air of tragedy.
Derivatives
grand-ˈaired adj. now rare having a grand air.
ΚΠ
1834 H. B. McLellan Jrnl. Resid. in Scotl. xvi. 273 Here you see..an agreeable group of Prussian gentlemen and ladies, and yonder, the important, grand-aired Anglaise.
1881 Academy 5 Mar. 167 Worried by a severe aunt and a grand-aired cousin.
1922 ‘R. Werther’ Female Impersonators iii. iii. 116 Nothing would I like better than to spend my declining years knit to your genial personality and heroic, grand-aired spirit.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1672