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Gritty comes from grit ("small hard granules"), which in turn derives, via Middle English, from an Old English word for "sand" or "gravel." Grit has been around since before the 12th century, but the first appearance of gritty in print in English was near the end of the 16th century, when it was used in the sense of "resembling or containing small hard granules." Grit entered American slang with the meaning "courage or persistence" in the early 19th century, and gritty followed suit with a corresponding "plucky" sense. By the 19th century's end, gritty was also being used to describe a literary style that was rough and coarse.
Examples of gritty in a Sentence
Erik Morse, Vogue, 24 Apr. 2024
The narrative brings to life a pivotal chapter of Australian war history with gritty authenticity, recounting the high body count Operation Copper, a mission during WWII when Australian and New Zealand troops were sent into the jungles of Papua New Guinea.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 24 Apr. 2024
Everyone has his own role that plays into the puzzle of putting together a complete team and everyone fits into coach Paul Maurice’s gritty, defense-first style of play that came to life in the playoffs last season and carried over into the regular season.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 20 Apr. 2024
But with his role as Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino’s gritty Pulp Fiction, which earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination, many saw him in a new light.
—Eric Andersson, Peoplemag, 19 Apr. 2024
While Xi has consolidated more executive power than any other Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, the gritty task of policy implementation now falls to Li—the COO to Xi’s formidable CEO.
—Charlie Campbell, TIME, 17 Apr. 2024
Ahmed has shown his versatility, going back and forth from gritty indies to large studio blockbusters.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Apr. 2024
The streets became a gritty wasteland until the 1950s and ‘60’s, when artists seeking cheap space began to move into the vast, lofty spaces contained within the distinctive cast iron facades that line the area’s cobblestone streets.
—Mark David, Robb Report, 15 Apr. 2024
Quinn’s Lighthouse has been a fixture on this somewhat gritty stretch of the Oakland Estuary since 1984.
—John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gritty.' 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 gritty
Cite this Entry
“Gritty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gritty. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
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