# grit

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡɹɪt/ · frequency rank #16,482

## Definitions
1. A collection of hard small materials, such as dirt, ground stone, debris from sandblasting or other such grinding, or swarf from metalworking.
2. A collection of hard small materials, such as dirt, ground stone, debris from sandblasting or other such grinding, or swarf from metalworking.
3. Small, hard, inedible particles in food.
4. A measure of the size of abrasive grains, such as those on sandpaper, and thus their relative coarseness or fineness; the smaller the number, the coarser the abrasive: thus, 60 is rough, 600 is fine, and 3000 is ultrafine.
5. A hard, coarse-grained siliceous sandstone; gritstone. Also, a finer sharp-grained sandstone, e.g., grindstone grit.
6. Strength of mind; courage or fearlessness; fortitude.

## Etymology
With early modern vowel shortening, from Middle English grete, griet, from Old English grēot, from Proto-West Germanic *greut, from Proto-Germanic *greutą. Compare grist.

## Easily confused with
- **gut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-gut)
- **GST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-gst)
- **GUI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-gui)
- **GRU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-gru)
- **gro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-gro)
- **grr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-grr)
- **grt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-grt)
- **grow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-grow)
- **grub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-grub)
- **gust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-gust)
- **grog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-grog)
- **guilt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-guilt)
- **groin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-groin)
- **grunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-grunt)
- **Groot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-groot)
- **grits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-grits)
- **grout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-grout)
- **gritty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grit-vs-gritty)
- **gi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gi-vs-grit)
- **GR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gr-vs-grit)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ggrit`, `girt`, `gritt`, `grrit`, `grti`, `rgit`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/grit