Grampa Definition & Meaning

American

Usage

Etymology

Examples

grampa American [gram-pah, -paw, -puh] / ˈgræmˌpɑ, -ˌpɔ, -pə /

noun

Informal.

1. grandfather.

Usage

What does grampa mean? Grampa is an informal word for grandfather—the father of a person’s parent.It’s a variant of the word grandpa, which is commonly pronounced like grampa.Grampa should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Grampa that I miss him. But grampa does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to him, as in Please tell my grampa that I miss him. Example: It doesn’t matter what you call your grampa, as long as you call him.

Etymology

Origin of grampa

First recorded in 1850–55; alteration of grandpa ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I wasn’t sure just how Mr. Patterson’s grampa mobile translated to a limousine, but I felt so grateful that we might actually get to Maine that I blurted out, “You wanna come too?”

From Literature

“I added the eyelashes and lips. Grampa doesn’t much like them. He’s more of a traditionalist when it comes to lures. And most everything else.”

From Literature

“I made it. My grampa carves them, and I paint them. He was a pretty famous angler. People around here call him Kingfish. I’d love a nickname like that.”

From Literature

Dear Amy: “Grampa” was worried that his grandsons were overweight.

From Washington Post

Grampa: According to statistics published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of childhood obesity in America is truly alarming: “In 2017-18, the prevalence of obesity was 19.3% and affected about 14.4 million children and adolescents. Obesity prevalence was 13.4% among 2- to 5-year-olds, 20.3% among 6- to 11-year-olds, and 21.2% among 12- to 19-year-olds.”

From Washington Post

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.