against the grain

idiom

: different from what is normal or usual

It takes courage to go against the grain and stand up for what you believe in.

Examples of against the grain in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the show, which Lincoln Hiatt and Andrew Golder created, contestants are confined to isolation pods with no sense of day or night, no human contact and no alliances – somewhat against the grain of the current spate of guessing game formats that require contestants to form pacts. —Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 12 Oct. 2025

Slice the steak against the grain. —Robin Miller, AZCentral.com, 9 Oct. 2025

Follow Osaka’s example of being willing to say no when companies make unreasonable demands that run against the grain of your mental health. —Bryan Robinson, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025

Joyce, though, is going against the grain — swayed by the fact that Bates is the CBS show's lone nomination — and going with The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey. —Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Sep. 2025

Rhymes for against the grain

• cyclopropane
• isobutane
• legerdemain
• nitromethane
• ultramontane
• abstain
• airplane
• alkane
• arcane
• arraign
• attain
• backplane