grandmotherly
2
3.0
- adjective
- /ˈɡrændˌmʌðərli/
:
abuelita
- With her warm smile and gentle touch, she provided the grandmotherly support he needed during tough times.
- grandmotherly woman
- grandmotherly type
- grandmotherly receptionist
Examples
-
Another time he'd been by himself in a restaurant, sipping coffee, when a smartly dressed, grandmotherly woman had glared at him from a nearby table.
Fiction book (1994) -
The woman who opened the door was plump and grandmotherly.
Fiction book (1990) -
So I was going to make a kind of grandmotherly response.
-
"Not the grandmotherly kindness you received this time."
Fiction book (2000) -
The new home care person, a grandmotherly Polish immigrant, came in at the same time.
Fiction book (1999) -
Brenda had a grandmotherly, apple-cheeked face.
Fiction book (2002) -
Down on the next bench were two grandmotherly women in house dresses, knitting, as comfortable as though settling down to coffee and gossip in their own kitchens.
Fiction book (1992) -
The woman emigrated to the United States after the war, and Hammer's client had developed a mother-daughter bond with the woman and a grandmotherly attachment to her American-born children.
Academic text (2002) -
Her grandmotherly nature made all the children feel cared for at the summer camp.
-
The grandmotherly woman always baked cookies for the neighborhood kids.
Synonyms
55
3.8
Showing care and kindness like a mother
16
2.3
Showing warm, gentle care like a parent
2
3.4
Kind, gentle, and caring like a grandfather
How Caring
Surface Forms
Morphology
grandmotherly = grandmother (transparent) = grand + mother + ly
The adjective is regularly formed from the noun 'grandmother' with the productive suffix '-ly', so its meaning 'typical of a grandmother' is directly derived.
Etymology
Grandmotherly comes from grandmother + -ly, meaning 'like a grandmother'. Like the common word motherly, it suggests someone warm, caring, and gentle, which is why grandmotherly describes that safe, loving manner.