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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
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
25 June 2026
The narrative conjures meaning from the Los Angeles cityscape by fusing a hodgepodge of textbook theories about the sprawling metropolis onto the gritty reality of daily life.
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Los Angeles Times,
22 June 2026
With his black hat, beard and baritone voice, Waylon defined the rebel, gritty spirit of the country music outlaw movement.
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Robert Costa,
CBS News,
21 June 2026
The Pitt, then, is a fitting gig, with its gritty portrayal of a hustling ER full of vulnerable patients and clinicians collectively muscling through.
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Abbey White,
HollywoodReporter,
17 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for gritty
Cite this Entry
“Gritty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gritty. Accessed 1 Jul. 2026.
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