Did you know?
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
Kiana Mickles, Pitchfork, 1 May 2026
The 18-year-old had just scored her first goal for the Spirit in a gritty display of her speed, athleticism and football IQ.
—Melanie Anzidei, New York Times, 1 May 2026
Even so, The Pitt‘s 2025 Emmy win for Outstanding Drama Series was a shot in the arm for the hospital genre, highlighting how audiences could respond to gritty storytelling focused on characters working in brutal, relentless circumstances.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 29 Apr. 2026
The gritty mafia thriller played out of competition at 2025’s Canneseries.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 28 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for gritty
Cite this Entry
“Gritty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gritty. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
Copy Citation
