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Definitions

paternal

[puh-tur-nl] / pəˈtɜr nl /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Like me, my paternal grandfather and my father also held decent white-collar jobs throughout their working lives and invested in the the stock market.

From Barron's • Mar. 14, 2026

Writing “Autobiography of Cotton” began with her desire to uncover the truth about her paternal grandparents, whose story she had only gathered bits and pieces of over the years.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026

His paternal grandparents, Max and Minnie Moritz, were among swathes of relatives killed during the Holocaust.

From BBC • Mar. 2, 2026

Sam Dalrymple has real Raj pedigree, his paternal grandfather being Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple, the aide-de-camp to Frank Messervy, the first commander in chief of the army of independent Pakistan.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

Because of his late-arriving but intense paternal sense, I was introduced to the most colorful characters in the Black underground.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou




Vocabulary lists containing paternal