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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
Erik Piepenburg, New York Times, 2 June 2025
Wyatt, the senior ace on his way to Michigan, and Walker, the gritty junior second baseman who refused to give up on his dream of starting, paused when trying to wrap their heads around the scene unfolding around them.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 31 May 2025
Karl-Anthony Towns battled through foul trouble to deliver a gritty 24-point, 13-rebound double-double, while New York's defense turned up the pressure and held the Pacers in check all night long.
—Kilty Cleary, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 May 2025
Movies have long cherished the contrast between a ballerina’s delicacy and lithe visuals with the gritty determination required to leap, dance and twirl in the highly unnatural way that is dancing on your toes.
—Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, 31 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for gritty
Cite this Entry
“Gritty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gritty. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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