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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
Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 20 Oct. 2025
Production values are aces with dynamic, gritty sets; light ing that makes the movie take place in a perpetual twilight; and a lively, nerve-jangling score.
—Kirk Honeycutt, HollywoodReporter, 20 Oct. 2025
Such is the case with Tigers Are Not Afraid, director/writer Issa López's gritty tale following a band of street kids in Mexico.
—Gwen Ihnat, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2025
Bowie’s most recent win was a 21-14 victory Friday over a tough and gritty Arlington squad.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gritty
Cite this Entry
“Gritty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gritty. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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