ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Nitty-gritty

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˌnɪtiˈɡɹɪti/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Nitty-gritty is a noun meaning (originally US, colloquial, also attributively) The core or essence of something; the gist.

Meaning

(originally US, colloquial, also attributively) The core or essence of something; the gist.

More Meanings

  1. (colloquial) Dealing with something in great depth.

Example Sentences

He gave a short summary without getting into the nitty-gritty of the problem.
1976, United States. National Commission on Arthritis and Related Musculoskeletal Diseases, Arthritis - Out of the Maze We deal with them at a very, very nitty gritty level, and we deal with the results of years and years of problems that they've had in the past.

Synonyms for nitty-gritty

Depending on context, synonyms include bowels, sum, core, crux, essence, gist.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include gist, substance, essence, sum, inwardness, center.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.