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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
Benjamin Royer, Oc Register, 8 May 2026
The Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens are fun stories, but this Hurricanes team is built to play gritty postseason hockey and have the battle scars teams need to make deep playoff runs.
—Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 8 May 2026
Under the pact, Zabel has sold a gritty cop drama to Netflix, with Scott Free producing.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 7 May 2026
They’re specifically designed for glass cooktop surfaces and have two sides—a gritty, sandpaper-like one on one side and a soft sponge on the other that gently scrub off stubborn messes and stuck-on bits without scratching or damaging the glass.
—Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 3 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Gritty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gritty. Accessed 12 May. 2026.
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