grit

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ɡrɪt/ UK /ɡrɪt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
small hard particles; courage and resolve in the face of hardship

It took real grit to finish the race on an injured ankle.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · small hard particles;... pluck fortitude resolve tenacity mettle backbone gravel sand

Opposites

cowardice weaknessfaintheartedness

Word family

Forms grittilygritty

Derived forms grittygrittiness

Related forms gritsgrout

Etymology

From Old English greot ('sand, dust, gravel'), from Proto-Germanic *greutą ('crushed particles'), from a Proto-Indo-European root *ghreu- ('to rub, grind'). The figurative sense 'courage' is 19th-century American.

greot Old English *ghreu- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# grit

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɡrɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /ɡrɪt/

## Meanings
1. small hard particles; courage and resolve in the face of hardship

## Examples
- It took real grit to finish the race on an injured ankle.

## Synonyms
- pluck
- fortitude
- resolve
- tenacity
- mettle
- backbone
- gravel
- sand

## Antonyms
- cowardice
- weakness
- faintheartedness

## Derived Forms
- gritty
- grittiness

## Related Forms
- grits
- grout

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: greot
- Root: *ghreu-

## Etymology
From Old English greot ('sand, dust, gravel'), from Proto-Germanic *greutą ('crushed particles'), from a Proto-Indo-European root *ghreu- ('to rub, grind'). The figurative sense 'courage' is 19th-century American.

## AI Etymology
Grit comes from Old English greot ('sand, dust, gravel'), from Proto-Germanic *greutą ('crushed particles'), from a Proto-Indo-European root *ghreu- ('to rub, grind'). The figurative sense 'courage' is 19th-century American. The etymological trail includes Old English greot and Proto-Indo-European *ghreu-. As a noun, grit names small hard particles; courage and resolve in the face of hardship. The same family is visible in derived forms such as gritty and grittiness and related forms such as grits and grout.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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