a coarse-grained igneous rock composed chiefly of orthoclase and albite feldspars and of quartz, usually with lesser amounts of one or more other minerals, as mica, hornblende, or augite.
anything compared to this rock in great hardness, firmness, or durability.
a light-coloured coarse-grained acid plutonic igneous rock consisting of quartz, feldspars, and such ferromagnesian minerals as biotite or hornblende: widely used for building
great hardness, endurance, or resolution
another name for a stone
First recorded in 1640–50, granite is from the Italian word granito grainy. See grain, -ite 1
From French
How does granite compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Granite is a type of rock that's commonly polished smooth and used for things like kitchen counters. Granite is dark and textured, with swirls of lighter colors. Granite is such a popular material in kitchens, as well as memorial stones and statues, because it is very strong and can be polished to a high shine. It's sturdy enough that granite is also commonly used to construct tall buildings and to cover floors in commercial areas. The word comes from the Italian granito, which means "grained" and is rooted in the Latin word for "grain," granum.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She left her backcountry campsite about 4:30 a.m. to reach Half Dome by 6 a.m., catching the sunrise at 8,800-feet elevation from the granite monolith.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Construction appears ongoing at the site, which includes tunnels burrowing into the granite mountain from the east and west.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Late Friday, the president visited the Mount Rushmore national monument for an address under the gaze of the giant granite heads of four of his legendary predecessors.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
Shannon, 11, was on a school residential trip on Dartmoor in Devon when her leg got trapped between enormous granite boulders on Hound Tor on Tuesday.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
One hundred thirty of us were positioned shoulder to shoulder around the outline that had been drawn on the granite.
From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman
And the jiggly, just-set cardamom panna cotta with crystals of rhubarb granité on top.
From New York Times ● Jun. 23, 2015
The nicest thing I can say about the long winter is that it allowed her citrus salad with tapioca pudding and orange-blossom granité to stay on the menu until May.
From New York Times ● May 27, 2014
For dessert, there was a gold-flecked slab of chocolate with ginger ice cream on the side to start, and some litchi granité accompanied by the tart rosehip jam.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2011
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.
