grandfathered
Excused from rules
Grandfathered describes something exempted from new rules because it existed before those rules took effect.
A grandfathered policy or property continues under old terms while new acquisitions must comply with current regulations: Our building was grandfathered in, so we don't need the updated permits.
The term comes from post-Civil War voting laws that exempted men whose grandfathers could vote—a device to disenfranchise Black Americans while protecting illiterate whites.
Legally guaranteed as yours
- protectedKept from harm
- preservedKept from deterioration
- guaranteedPromised with certainty
- securedMade fast or obtained
unchanged · perpetual · maintained · retained · enshrined · accrued · inviolable · entitlement
Release from requirement
- waiverFormal surrender of rights
- immunityProtected from harm
- carve-outExempted portion or provision
- dispensationOfficial permission to skip rules
exclusion · noncompliance · protected · amnesty · moratorium · loophole · exception · variance
Received from forebears
- preexistingAlready in existence
- establishedFormally set up
- holdoverRemainder from prior period
- carryoverAmount brought forward
predecessor · original · prior · former · existing · retained · surviving · residual
vested
Legally guaranteed as yours
- protectedKept from harm
- preservedKept from deterioration
- guaranteedPromised with certainty
secured · unchanged · perpetual · maintained · retained · enshrined · accrued · inviolable · entitlement · tenure
exemption
Release from requirement
dispensation · exclusion · noncompliance · protected · amnesty · moratorium · loophole · exception · variance · preexisting
inherited
Received from forebears
- preexistingAlready in existence
- establishedFormally set up
- holdoverRemainder from prior period
carryover · predecessor · original · prior · former · existing · retained · surviving · residual · remaining
- membership statusmember, non-member, active, inactive, pending
- Coverage Statuscovered, insured, uninsured, enrolled, unenrolled
- accountabilityaccountability, responsibility, accountable, take responsibility, answerability
- grandfathersgrandpa, granddad, gramps, grampy, papaw
- trade statusapproved, authorized, banned, certified, cleared
- zoningzoning codes, zoning ordinance, zoning code, zoning ordinances, zoning restrictions
grandfatherednon-exempt
Owed overtime wages
compliant · regulated · unexempted · unprotected · covered
grandfatheredmodernized
Made contemporary
retrofitted · revoked · invalidated · rescinded · updated
- grandfather clockTall freestanding pendulum timekeeper
- great grandfatherMale ancestor, third generation
- grandfather's clockTall floor clock
- grandfather clauseExemption preserving prior status
- grandfathered in
- maternal grandfatherParent of one's mother
grandfather, grandfather clause, grandfathers, grandfathering, grandfatherly