grand
adjective /ɡrænd/
/ɡrænd/
(comparative grander, superlative grandest)
Idioms - impressive and large or important
- It's not a very grand house.
- The wedding was a very grand occasion.
- The book dares to take on grand themes in the grand manner.
- Grand[only before noun] used in the names of impressive or very large buildings, etc.
- the Grand Canyon
- We stayed at the Grand Hotel.
- needing a lot of effort, money or time to succeed but intended to achieve impressive results
- a grand plan/strategy/scheme
- The gallery had its grand opening on 18 January.
- New Yorkers built their city on a grand scale.
- used to describe the largest or most important item of its kind
- The film won the grand prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
- Tomorrow is the grand final with just 12 contestants left from the hundreds who entered.
- (of people) behaving in a proud way because they are rich or from a high social class
- They're all Lord or Lady somebody or other, but they're not at all grand.
- She put on her grandest air and waltzed into the living room to join the others.
- (dialect or informal) very good or great fun; excellent
- I had a grand day out at the seaside.
- Thanks. That'll be grand!
- Fred did a grand job of painting the house.
- Grandused in the titles of people of very high social rank
- the Grand Duchess Elena
see also grandeur
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French grant, grand, from Latin grandis ‘full-grown, big, great’. The original uses were to denote family relationships and as a title (the Grand, translating Old French le Grand); hence the senses ‘of the highest rank’, ‘of great importance’.
Idioms
a/the grand old age (of…)
- a great age
- She finally learned to drive at the grand old age of 70.
a/the grand old man (of something)
- a man who is respected in a particular profession that he has been involved in for a long time
- James Lovelock, the grand old man of environmental science
CultureGrand Old Man was a title originally used to refer to William Gladstone, who spent many years in British politics in 19th century and was prime minister four times.