Is graffiti singular or plural?: Usage Guide
Graffiti, which also serves as the plural of graffito, is commonly used as a singular mass noun.
graffiti … was depressing people who rode the subways
—
New Yorker
New Yorker
graffiti comes in various styles
—S. K. Oberbeck
S. K. Oberbeck
This use is well established although not yet as well established as the mass-noun use of data. Use of graffiti as a singular count noun is still quite rare and is not standard.
graffitied; graffitiing
grə-ˈfē-(ˌ)tē-iŋ 
gra-,
grä-
also graffiting
grə-ˈfē-tiŋ
gra-,
grä-
: to draw graffiti on : to deface with graffiti
graffitied walls
Examples of graffiti in a Sentence
Noun
The walls of the old building are covered with graffiti.
Recent Examples on the WebSteve Appleford, Rolling Stone, 1 Apr. 2024
There was graffiti on the vacant house next door, and a neighbor had warned about the kids who partied there.
—Cindy Chang, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
There’s no graffiti, there’s no filth, no foul smells.
—Peter Suciu, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
Also, up and down the short corridor, the walls are adorned with Sharpie graffiti from clerks long gone, who established a loose tradition of signing the wall on their last day on the job.
—Stephen Deusner, SPIN, 14 Mar. 2024
There have also been numerous reports of Jewish houses of worship being vandalized with anti-Israeli graffiti.
—Corky Siemaszko, NBC News, 1 Nov. 2023
With its backroom graffiti, deep LP stock (there’s an original pressing of Big Star’s Radio City behind the counter!), stickers on every surface, and original promotional posters for the Eagles and the Grateful Dead, Karma Records has the feel of a museum, which Ector says is appropriate.
—Stephen Deusner, SPIN, 14 Mar. 2024
Recently posted video shows the daring lengths some taggers have employed to add their graffiti to the building’s exterior.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2024
The City Council voted Friday to spend nearly $4 million to secure an unfinished downtown skyscraper complex and remove graffiti from its exterior.
—Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2024
Mike Wagenheim, Sun Sentinel, 22 Dec. 2022
The announcement follows a weekend of protests in the United Kingdom, where on June 7, protesters tore down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol and graffitied a statue of Sir Winston Churchill in London.
—Mélissa Godin, Time, 9 June 2020
What parts of the dining room walls that aren’t obscured by supplies are graffitied with well wishes in English, Spanish and Mandarin, and taped with paper bills like a neighborhood bar.
—Amy Scattergood, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2020
In under a hundred years, Florence’s equivalent of a New York minute, the majority were bordered up, graffitied over, repurposed into doorbell posts, or completely covered.
—Erin Florio, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Jan. 2020
There have been at least 12 episodes since Nov. 6, including anti-Asian and anti-black slurs graffitied in residence halls and a swastika in a snow bank near an apartment complex where students live.
—Doha Madani, NBC News, 20 Nov. 2019
Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times More than 2,500 police officers patrol New York City’s subway, where crime is down sharply from the era of rampant violence and graffiti three decades ago.
—New York Times, 5 Nov. 2019
Fernandez was proposing to have graffiti-like murals on each of the six panels on the transportation center, with panels representing Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.
—Anthony Clark Carpio, Burbank Leader, 27 Aug. 2019
Situated in a lay-by on the A487, just north of Llanrhystud, about half-way up the west coast of Wales, its importance derives from two words graffitied on it by Meic Stephens, a journalist and activist, in the 1960s: Cofiwch Dryweryn.
—The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019
Noun
Even now, after the city has clamped down on the free-for-all, with a new show of force by the Los Angeles Police Department and some modest cleanup efforts since the end of February, a few artists are still getting onsite and leaving more graffiti on the buildings.
—Steve Appleford, Rolling Stone, 1 Apr. 2024
There was graffiti on the vacant house next door, and a neighbor had warned about the kids who partied there.
—Cindy Chang, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
There’s no graffiti, there’s no filth, no foul smells.
—Peter Suciu, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
Also, up and down the short corridor, the walls are adorned with Sharpie graffiti from clerks long gone, who established a loose tradition of signing the wall on their last day on the job.
—Stephen Deusner, SPIN, 14 Mar. 2024
There have also been numerous reports of Jewish houses of worship being vandalized with anti-Israeli graffiti.
—Corky Siemaszko, NBC News, 1 Nov. 2023
With its backroom graffiti, deep LP stock (there’s an original pressing of Big Star’s Radio City behind the counter!), stickers on every surface, and original promotional posters for the Eagles and the Grateful Dead, Karma Records has the feel of a museum, which Ector says is appropriate.
—Stephen Deusner, SPIN, 14 Mar. 2024
Recently posted video shows the daring lengths some taggers have employed to add their graffiti to the building’s exterior.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2024
The City Council voted Friday to spend nearly $4 million to secure an unfinished downtown skyscraper complex and remove graffiti from its exterior.
—Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2024
Verb
In New York City, antisemites graffiti the walls with Jew-hatred.
—Mike Wagenheim, Sun Sentinel, 22 Dec. 2022
The announcement follows a weekend of protests in the United Kingdom, where on June 7, protesters tore down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol and graffitied a statue of Sir Winston Churchill in London.
—Mélissa Godin, Time, 9 June 2020
What parts of the dining room walls that aren’t obscured by supplies are graffitied with well wishes in English, Spanish and Mandarin, and taped with paper bills like a neighborhood bar.
—Amy Scattergood, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2020
In under a hundred years, Florence’s equivalent of a New York minute, the majority were bordered up, graffitied over, repurposed into doorbell posts, or completely covered.
—Erin Florio, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Jan. 2020
There have been at least 12 episodes since Nov. 6, including anti-Asian and anti-black slurs graffitied in residence halls and a swastika in a snow bank near an apartment complex where students live.
—Doha Madani, NBC News, 20 Nov. 2019
Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times More than 2,500 police officers patrol New York City’s subway, where crime is down sharply from the era of rampant violence and graffiti three decades ago.
—New York Times, 5 Nov. 2019
Fernandez was proposing to have graffiti-like murals on each of the six panels on the transportation center, with panels representing Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.
—Anthony Clark Carpio, Burbank Leader, 27 Aug. 2019
Situated in a lay-by on the A487, just north of Llanrhystud, about half-way up the west coast of Wales, its importance derives from two words graffitied on it by Meic Stephens, a journalist and activist, in the 1960s: Cofiwch Dryweryn.
—The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'graffiti.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near graffiti
Cite this Entry
“Graffiti.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/graffiti. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share