Great-uncle Definition & Meaning

American

British

Compare Meaning

Examples

great-uncle American [greyt-uhng-kuhl] / ˈgreɪtˌʌŋ kəl /

noun

1. a granduncle.

great-uncle British

noun

1. an uncle of one's father or mother; brother of one's grandfather or grandmother

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Compare meaning

How does great-uncle compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• granduncle vs. great-uncle

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.

My great-uncle, a traditional yellow-dog Democrat who was born during the Depression and named for Franklin Roosevelt, predicted approvingly that Jackson would “light a fire” under the audience.

From Salon

When my great-uncle Elvin died last year, a parade of black cars transported his casket from the funeral home to the cemetery.

From Literature

His great-uncle built the club in Murcia where generations of the family would play.

From BBC

“I had an uncle. A great-uncle. Saul. He lived down South, scraping by, like our people had to do in those days.”

From Literature

Instead, he just looks like one of my great-uncles who are obsessed with poker.

From Literature

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.