grandee

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The Word of the Day for July 5 is:

grandee   \gran-DEE\   noun
     : a man of elevated rank or station 

Example sentence:
     When he returned home from the fund-raiser, Stephen 
couldn't help bragging a little about all the political grandees 
he'd met.

Did you know? 
     In Medieval Spain and Portugal the "grandes" ("great ones") 
were at the pinnacle of the ranks of nobles, rich and powerful. 
A grandee (as it came to be spelled in English) could wear a hat 
in the presence of the king and queen -- the height of 
privilege -- and he alone could address a letter directly to 
royalty. (Even Christopher Columbus had to direct his reports of 
the New World to an important noble at court, who read them to 
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.) Today, although the term is 
still applied to grandees of the blue-blooded sort, they are few 
and far between, and the title can be used for anyone of 
importance and influence anywhere (such as the "pin-striped 
grandees of London's financial district").