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granny

gran·ny/ˈɡɹæni/noun, adjective, verb

granny is spelled G-R-A-N-N-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables (gran·ny). It appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, granny means “A grandmother” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of granny is grannies.

How many letters and syllables are in granny?

Letters6: G-R-A-N-N-Y
Syllables2: gran·ny
In writing4.1 times per million words; the 12,764th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is granny?

Granny appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th 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 granny?

  • /ˈɡɹæni/

Granny has 2 syllables, split gran·ny in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-granny.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of granny

  • grannies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • grammy
  • grannying participle, present
  • grannied participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does granny mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    colloquialA grandmother.

    I'm going to be a granny.

  2. 2

    colloquialAny elderly woman, regardless of if she has grandchildren.

    That granny over there needs your assistance.

  3. 3

    colloquialAn older ewe that may lure a lamb away from its mother.

  4. 4

    Ellipsis of granny knot.

  5. 5

    AustraliacolloquialA grand final.

adjective

  1. 1

    informalTypically or stereotypically old-fashioned, especially in clothing and accessories worn by or associated with elderly women.

    granny dress; granny glasses

verb

  1. 1

    informalTo be a grandmother.

  2. 2

    informalTo act like a stereotypical grandmother; to fuss.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Granny in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmémé, mamie (colloquial: grandmother – see also grandma), vieille (colloquial: an elderly woman)
GermanOma, Omi, Großmutti (colloquial: grandmother – see also grandma), Alte (colloquial: an elderly woman)
Portuguesevó, vovó, vovozinha (colloquial: grandmother – see also grandma), velha (colloquial: an elderly woman)
Spanishabuelita, yaya, abue (colloquial: grandmother – see also grandma)

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 granny come from?

From gran(nam) + -y.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after granny