gritty
Americanadjective
-
grittier,
comparative
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grittiest
superlative
-
consisting of, containing, or resembling grit; sandy.
-
resolute and courageous; plucky.
adjective
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courageous; hardy; resolute
-
of, like, or containing grit
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of gritty
Explanation
Gritty things have a rough texture that makes them feel like they're coated with sand. After a day at the beach, you might come home with gritty arms and legs. A baking project involving corn meal might result in a gritty counter and a gritty kitchen floor, and one shake of your dirty dog will leave you with a gritty couch. Grit is a tiny particle of sand or stone, and gritty means "covered in grit." A second meaning of gritty is "showing bravery and spirit." When you stick with something no matter how scary or difficult it is, that's gritty.
Vocabulary lists containing gritty
Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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Baseball in April
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"Earthquake"
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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.
See Examples For:
If all goes according to plan, this gritty pocket of Kailua will soon be roaring with new machinery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Perhaps best of all: The movie has a gritty, charming meanness to it; a stickiness that’s hard to shake off.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
He’s not unaware that Meyers’ mostly 20-something male friends have — like many — romanticized the gritty abandon of lower Manhattan’s bygone literary scene and perhaps Ed’s tenuous place in it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Jasmine Paolini secured a gritty win over Alexandra Eala to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals and end the Filipina's historic run.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
He took some dried willow bark from his medicine pouch and chewed it, gagging on its gritty bitterness.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Though it was always grittier than the beaches and rainforests that draw millions of tourists, residents said that until the past few years it felt like a relatively safe place to live.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
For over an hour, a harder, grittier version of the club seemed ready to overcome its history and lift this elusive trophy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
Fans of Marvel’s grittier side should like “Punisher,” and “Maul” is cool, but is that enough to justify a subscription?
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026
His version of the hero is far cheerier and more optimistic that other iterations, particularly compared to Henry Cavill's portrayal of him which was grittier and darker.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025
They were nearing the edge of Lkossa, a grittier part of the city littered with old crates, debris, and other filth.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
However this story ends, U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn has to go down as one of the greatest, grittiest competitors in the history of her sport or any other.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
Crawley at least found form with the grittiest of knocks, adding 78 with Joe Root then 68 with Harry Brook, defending well and attacking loose balls.
From Barron's ● Dec. 20, 2025
At 31-2, the smart money was on an England capitulation, only for Crawley to produce the grittiest knock of his 62-Test career.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2025
"Dead City" is very interesting because I find it to be the grittiest one, the most hard-nosed.
From Salon ● Mar. 3, 2024
She came out of Berwind, which was one of the grittiest and roughest towns in the county.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
