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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
Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 8 Jan. 2025
One gritty season-ending win over a depleted Packers team only carries so much weight.
—Dan Wiederer, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2025
But as Gary, an Alabama transfer in his third year with the Huskers, and Sam Hoiberg, the gritty coach’s son, said Saturday, no one is taking a rest.
—Mitch Sherman, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
All but one of those wins was by one score — a rate that’s widely considered unsustainable — but the gritty Giants made the playoffs as a wild-card team nonetheless.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 6 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for gritty 
Dictionary Entries Near gritty
Cite this Entry
“Gritty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gritty. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.
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