grandma
/ˈɡɹænmɑː/noun, verb
grandma is spelled G-R-A-N-D-M-A: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, grandma means “Grandmother” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of grandma is grandmas.
How many letters and syllables are in grandma?
| Letters | 7: G-R-A-N-D-M-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,957th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is grandma?
Grandma appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce grandma?
- /ˈɡɹænmɑː/
- /ˈɡɹænmə/
- /ˈɡɹæmɑː/
Grandma has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-grandma.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-grandma.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with grandma
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: granma.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with grandma?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as grandma.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: grandam.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of grandma
- grandmas plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- granma
- gran'ma
- gramma
- grandma-ing participle, present
- grandmaing participle, present
- grandmaed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does grandma mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
informalGrandmother.
- 2
colloquialAny elderly woman, regardless of if she has grandchildren.
verb
- 1
informalrareTo address (someone) as “grandma”.
- 2
informalrareTo be or act as a grandmother to (someone).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate grandma?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of grandma: gma.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Grandma in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense grandmother (informal) – see also granny:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does grandma come from?
From grand- + ma, after grandmother.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).