- grand
- grand adj Grand, magnificent, imposing, stately, majestic, august, noble, grandiose are comparable when they mean large, handsome, dignified, and impressive. They vary somewhat in the emphasis which they respectively place on these qualities, and they differ somewhat also in their additional implications and connotations.Grand emphasizes magnitude or greatness of dimensions; often, however, it is not physical largeness that is implied, but a spiritual, intellectual, or aesthetic greatness that makes the thing so described preeminent among its kind. It is distinguishable, however, from other words meaning very large (as big, huge, and colossal) by its implications of handsomeness, dignity, and impressiveness{
the grand view from the summit
}{the grandest of Gothic cathedrals
}{a grand production of Parsifal
}{the grand style arises in poetry, when a noble nature, poetically gifted, treats with simplicity or with severity a serious subject— Arnold
}{the castle was considered grand by the illiterate; but architects . .. condemned it as a nondescript mixture of styles in the worst possible taste— Shaw
}Magnificent also may or may not imply actual physical largeness, but it always suggests an impressive largeness proportionate to the thing's scale, without sacrifice of dignity or violation of the canons of good taste. The term was originally and is still in historical use applied to certain rulers, notable for their great deeds, the sumptuousness of their way of living, and the munificence of their gifts{Lorenzo de' Medici was known as Lorenzo the Magnificent
}In current general use it is often applied to ways of living or to the things (as houses, furnishings, clothes, and jewels) that contribute to a sumptuous and handsome way of living{the drawing room, which was a truly magnificent apartment— Bennett
}It is also applicable to many other things which are felt to be superior (as in beauty, elegance, or worth) often as contrasted with what may be described as plain or insignificant{magnificent clothes
}{a magnificent theme
}{so ostentatiously magnificent a name as Gabriele d'Annunzio— Ellis
}{a magnificent performance of Hamlet
}{much of Dryden's unique merit consists in his ability to make ... the prosaic into the poetic, the trivial into the magnificent— T. S. Eliot
}Imposing stresses impressiveness because of size and dignity or sometimes because of magnificence{though tall and heavily built, he was not imposing— Mackenzie
}{it is between the town and the suburb, that midway habitation which fringes every American city, and which is imposing or squalid according to the incomes of suburbanites— Repplier
}Stately usually emphasizes dignity, but there is an almost equal stress placed on handsomeness and impressiveness, and there is often an implication of larger than usual size{stately ships under full sail
}{solid and stately furniture— Bennett
}{I like to think of the obscure and yet dignified lives that have been lived in these quaint and stately chambers— Benson
}Majestic combines the implications of imposing and stately, but it adds a strong connotation of solemn grandeur; it is applicable not only to tangible things (as persons, buildings, interiors, and furniture) but also to intangible things or to things that produce an aesthetic effect{his majestic personality and striking physical appearance— Jack
}{twilight combined with the scenery of Egdon Heath to evolve a thing majestic without severity, impressive without showiness— Hardy
}{the clash and fall of empires is a majestic theme when it is handled by an imaginative historian— Bruun
}{the full moon shone high in the blue vault, majestic, lonely, benign— Cather
}August implies impressiveness so strongly as to impute to the thing so described a power to inspire awe, veneration, or, in ironic use, abashment and dread. But it also ascribes a lofty or exalted character to whatever it qualifies{so glorious is our nature, so august— Browning
}{how can you look round at these august hills, look up at this divine sky . . . and then talk like a literary hack . . .?— Shaw
}{no assemblage of academic duennas, however august— Montague
}{for in the eternal city ... a Power august, benignant and supreme shall then absolve thee of all farther duties—Poe
}Noble in this relation (see also MORAL) carries no suggestion of a moral quality or of a social status; rather it implies a commanding grandeur or the power to impress the imagination, emotions, or the intellect as incomparably great or excellent{now see that noble and most sovereign reason, like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh— Shak.
}{the Vandals of our isle . . . have burnt to dust a nobler pile than ever Roman saw!— Cowper
}Grandiose often implies an almost preposterous pretentiousness or pomposity{the grandiose manner of the stage— Irving
}{the grandiose aggressive schizophrenic patient is typically a disorganized self-assertive person whose dominant delusions are those of grandeur— Cameron
}but it may also be used without derogation to imply a more than usual largeness of plan or scope or a grandeur or majesty exceeding that of life or experience{things painted by a Rubens ... all better, all more grandiose than the life— Browning
}{tend to make us forget what more grandiose, noble, or beautiful character properly belongs to religious constructions— Arnold
}{Contemplating the grandiose complexities of the Universe— Krutch
}Analogous words: sumptuous, luxurious, opulent: sublime, superb, *splendid, gorgeous: monumental, tremendous, stupendous, prodigious (see MONSTROUS)Contrasted words: *petty, puny, paltry, trivial, trifling, measly
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
