grits
Americannoun
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Also called hominy grits. (especially in Southern cooking) coarsely ground hominy, or white corn, boiled to a thick consistency and then sometimes fried, eaten as a breakfast dish or as a side dish with meat.
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grain hulled and coarsely ground.
plural noun
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hulled and coarsely ground grain
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See hominy grits
Etymology
Origin of grits
First recorded before 900; Middle English grut(t)a, gryttes (plural) “coarse meal, bran,” Old English gryt(t) “dust, meal”; cognate with German Grütze
Compare meaning
How does grits compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Grits are a savory dish made of ground cornmeal. You can order grits with your eggs at the diner, or try shrimp and grits for dinner. While grits are most popular in the southern United States, they've become more common in other places, particularly as a breakfast dish. Grits, unlike polenta, mash, and other soft, corn-based foods, are made from hominy, a type of corn that's soaked in an alkaline solution before being ground. This traditional Native American dish was passed along to southern colonists in the 17th century. Grits are so popular in the South that the region is sometimes called "the grits belt."
Vocabulary lists containing grits
World Cuisine - Introductory
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World Cuisine - Middle School and High School
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The Color Purple
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Here is a perfect example: Saag and Grits, inspired by the owners of a Pakistani-American food truck in southern Virginia.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
Grits, cornbread, corn-on-the-cob, corn casserole, succotash, spoonbread, dressing — I could go on like Forrest Gump about shrimp — we just have a special love for most all things corn.
From Salon • Nov. 16, 2023
Grits are often interchanged with polenta, since both are made from ground corn.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 10, 2023
Grits aren’t “supposed” to be anything except delicious — and sometimes that means adding sugar.
From Washington Post • Oct. 21, 2022
Grits, eggs, biscuits, and butter, bacon, collard greens, ham hocks, all the food I couldn’t eat before, I ate.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
