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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
Natalia Gonzalez Blanco Serrano, The Spruce, 25 Jan. 2026
Young landed her first major role a few years prior with a handful of episodes of Starz’s gritty swashbuckler, Black Sails (2015).
—Kelly Martinez, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Jan. 2026
Palmer’s gritty but gracefully soulful singing prowess and fast way with a lyric brought a different energy to what the Taylors and Thompson had planned for the sessions.
—A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 24 Jan. 2026
At a time when popular culture often eschews family friendly versions of high school depictions for gritty realistic takes on adolescence, High School Musical remains a pop culture fixture.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 24 Jan. 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 28 Jan. 2026.
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