grit
/ɡɹɪt/
grit is pronounced grit (/ɡɹɪt/). Grit refers to a firm, resolute courage and perseverance, especially in the face of difficulty. It also denotes coarse sand or abrasive texture. In usage, it conveys steady, determined effort more than momentary enthusiasm, and is often paired with phrases like “grit and determination.”.
Grit refers to a firm, resolute courage and perseverance, especially in the face of difficulty. It also denotes coarse sand or abrasive texture. In usage, it conveys steady, determined effort more than momentary enthusiasm, and is often paired with phrases like “grit and determination.”
"Her grit helped her finish the marathon despite the injury."
"The metal’s grit gave the sandpaper its abrasive power."
"When the job got tough, his grit kept him moving forward."
Pronounce it as /grɪt/. It’s a single stressed syllable with a short, lax KIT vowel /ɪ/. The initial consonant cluster /gr/ starts with a light /g/ release blending into /r/. Keep the tongue high and relaxed for /ɪ/, with a short, sharp /t/ at the end. Listen for clarity: /grɪt/ (GA/US).
Common errors: 1) Deleting the /r/ in some dialects, yielding /ɡɪt/ or /ɡɪt/; 2) Over-emphasizing the /t/ leading to a clipped, aspirated edge; 3) Substituting a lax /ɪ/ like /i/ in some fast speech. Correction: keep the /r/ sound integrated into the /gr/ cluster, shorten but do not fully cut the /t/, and maintain /ɪ/ as in KIT. Practice with word pairs to stabilize the vowel and consonant timing.
In US/UK/AU, /grɪt/ is generally the same consonant sequence. The main variation is rhoticity: non-rhotic accents may not fully vocalize an intrusive /r/ in post-vocalic positions, but because grit is monosyllabic, /r/ is pronounced the same across US, UK, AU in isolation. Vowel quality of /ɪ/ remains central-front; Australian English may have a slightly closer and more centralized /ɪ/. Overall, minimal variation in strictly isolated grit.
Grit is short and ends with a voiceless /t/, so it challenges precise tongue-tip contact timing between the alveolar /t/ and the preceding /ɪ/ vowel. The /gr/ cluster requires a quick, smooth tongue body movement from the velar or alveolar place of articulation into /r/ without a vowel break. In rapid speech, this cluster can reduce, causing aspiration or vowel length changes. Focus on clean /gr/ onset and a crisp /t/ release.
Yes. Start with the /gr/ two-phoneme blend by articulating /g/ with a light touch then immediately raise the tongue body to approximate /r/ without a full vowel in between. The /ɪ/ should be short and lax; keep it centralized rather than moving to a more open vowel. End with a quick, unaspirated /t/ release. Practicing with minimal pairs such as grit vs. grip helps anchor the voiceless ending.
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Grit comes from Old English grit or grytt, related to gritian, meaning to rub or grind, reflecting its original sense of coarse fragments produced by grinding. The noun grit (coarse particles of sand or stone) dates to the early Middle English period, with cognates in other Germanic languages indicating rough texture. By the 15th century, grit also acquired the figurative sense of “small but stubborn determination.” The modern sense of mental toughness emerged in American usage in the 19th–20th centuries, aligning with the broader metaphor of sand-like grit as something gritty or rough that wears away obstacles. The term has long carried both tactile and figurative implications: the sand-like granules of grit as a texture, and grit as a metonym for perseverance, suggesting endurance at a granular, incremental scale.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "grit" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "grit" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "grit"
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