Grand Meaning
/ˈɡɹænd/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjLarge, senior (high-ranking), intense, extreme, or exceptional
adjLarge, senior (high-ranking), intense, extreme, or exceptional, Of a large size or extent; great.
Sentence Examples
It is quite a grand view.
Look at this grand view of the ocean.
It's not a very grand house.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The castle was very ____ with tall towers and big halls.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hotel had a ____ staircase in the lobby that was made of polished marble and had gold-plated railings.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English grand, grond, graund, graunt, from Anglo-Norman graunt, from Old French grant, from Latin grandis. Doublet of grande and grandee.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In the mean time, Cluffe had arrived. He was a little bit huffed and grand at being nailed as an evidence, upon a few words carelessly, or, if you will, confidentially dropped at his own mess-table, where Lowe chanced to be a guest; and certainly with no suspicion that his little story could in any way be made to elucidate the mystery of Sturk's murder."
— 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
"One grand, two grand RPM"
— 1979, The Four Speeds, “R.P.M.”:
"The engine, with more compression, carburetion, and cam timing than the Ambassador, could lounge comfortably below four grand and then rush to 7500 rpm, aided and abetted by a light flywheel and a close-ratio five-speed box."
— 1999, Cycle World Magazine, October 1999 edition, page 60:
"Once, in Maryland, he met four families of slaves who had all been together for a hundred years: great-grands, grands, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, children."
— 1987, Toni Morrison, Beloved, page 269:
"Her granddaughter and great-granddaughter went with us as chaperones. Did I ever tell you that she had six grands and two great-grands? […] And Emily agrees with me it's a shame that I don't even have a grand."
— 2012, Brenda Jackson, Texas Wild & Beyond Temptation, page 47:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The castle was very ____ with tall towers and big halls.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hotel had a ____ staircase in the lobby that was made of polished marble and had gold-plated railings.