Antonyms for grandest


Grammar : Adj
Spell : grand
Phonetic Transcription : grænd


Definition of grandest

Origin :
  • late 14c., grant "large, big" (early 12c. in surnames), from Anglo-French graunt and directly from Old French grant, grand (10c.) "large, tall; grown-up; great, powerful, important; strict, severe; extensive; numerous," from Latin grandis "big, great; full, abundant," also "full-grown;" figuratively "strong, powerful, weighty, severe" (perhaps cognate with Greek brenthyomai "to swagger, be haughty"). It supplanted magnus in Romanic languages; in English with a special sense of "imposing." The connotations of "noble, sublime, lofty, dignified," etc., were in Latin. As a general term of admiration, "magnificent, splendid," from 1816. Related: Grander; grandest.
  • The use of grand- in compounds, with the sense of "a generation older than, or younger than," is first attested c.1200, in Anglo-French graund dame "grandmother." Latin and Greek had similar usages.
  • Grand jury is late 15c. Grand piano from 1797. The grand tour of the principal sites of continental Europe, as part of a gentleman's education, is attested by that name from 1660s. The Grand Canyon was so called 1871 by Maj. John Wesley Powell, scientific adventurer, who explored it; earlier it had been known as Big Canyon.
  • adj impressive, great
  • adj most important
Example sentences :
  • This is the grandest stroke of religious circumvention that ever was struck.
  • Extract from : « The Fall of British Tyranny » by John Leacock
  • Hence in his case also his achievements are on the grandest scale but of the worst.
  • Extract from : « The Memorabilia » by Xenophon
  • Oh, it was much nicer than the grandest gift the stores could offer.
  • Extract from : « Highacres » by Jane Abbott
  • Each of these is up to the shoulders in the grandest game you ever dreamed of.
  • Extract from : « Dwellers in the Hills » by Melville Davisson Post
  • And these qualities are the grandest qualities of all superior people.
  • Extract from : « Sparkling Gems of Race Knowledge Worth Reading » by Various
  • The cathedral here is the grandest in France, and I stay a week at least.
  • Extract from : « Hortus Inclusus » by John Ruskin
  • But I think the grandest part is to earn George Washington's board.
  • Extract from : « Mary Rose of Mifflin » by Frances R. Sterrett
  • But to my mind, much as I loved my master, Sorley Boy was the grandest of the three.
  • Extract from : « Sir Ludar » by Talbot Baines Reed
  • But their next retort to their enemies was the grandest of all.
  • Extract from : « History of the Moravian Church » by J. E. Hutton
  • In the grandest scale he is called a financier; in the meanest, a pickpocket.
  • Extract from : « The Story of the Barbary Corsairs » by Stanley Lane-Poole

Synonyms for grandest

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019