grandmother

noun

Definition of grandmothernext
as in matriarch
the mother of your father or mother

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of grandmother Three generations of women in my family — my grandmother, my mother, my sister — carried the same condition through the same blood before any of us had a clinical word for it. — Miranda Pappas, STAT, 22 Oct. 2026 Mistie Taylor was a mother of three and grandmother of five, her obituary said. — Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 22 Oct. 2026 This includes Vera Edwards, who has crafted 44 exquisite oil paintings for the rooms, and discovered that her great-grandmother’s mosaic had been on the original walls in the 1960s. — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 21 Oct. 2026 Williamson was picked up by police after a high-speed chase at his grandmother’s house, the outlet reported. — Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 21 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for grandmother
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grandmother
  1. matriarch
  2. ancestress
  3. ancestor
  4. foremother
Noun
  • Animal print, of course, has long been a fixture in the Kardashian-Jenner matriarch’s wardrobe.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Ingunn Rasmussen, the warm, chatty matriarch behind Kitchen on the Edge (and hiking guide Audun's sister), took over the property in October 2001 and now runs it with her son, Håvar Holmen.
    — Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of matriarch
Noun
  • Yang Asha is the mythical ancestress of the Miao people, an ethnic minority in China closely related to the Hmong of Southeast Asia.
    — Keith Bradsher, New York Times, 26 Nov. 2020
  • His own mother, aged ninety, who remembered her aunt, had been able to share stories of their ancestress with the grandchildren who’d had no idea, before now, what their background might be.
    — Susan Choi, Harper's magazine, 6 Jan. 2020
Definition of ancestress
Noun
  • According to family history, DaCosta Levy’s family lineage traced to Portugal, where his ancestors had been mariners — almost certainly Sephardic Jews who scattered across the Atlantic world after the Inquisition.
    — Zachary Kranc, Sun Sentinel, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Government officials previously said that these 11 families split from a common male-line ancestor some 600 years ago, and are now at least 36 degrees of kinship from Naruhito.
    — Chad de Guzman, Time, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of ancestor
Noun
  • Through our hair and its many rituals, remain the herbalism of our foremothers in the new world, passing down their ingenuity of homemade balms, creams, and oils for hair growth.
    — Eshe Ukweli, refinery29.com, 7 June 2023
  • In fact, precursors to modern bleaching processes didn’t come on the scene until the turn of the 20th century, leaving our foremothers and forefathers plenty of time to get creative with their blonde pursuits.
    — AJ Willingham, CNN, 28 May 2023
Definition of foremother

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grandly
grandmother
grandmothers
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Cite this Entry

“Grandmother.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grandmother. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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