nitty-gritty

1. 1.

   the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience

   “the gist of the prosecutor's argument”

   “the heart and soul of the Republican Party”

   “the nub of the story”

   Synonymskernelsubstancecorecentercentreessencegistheartheart and soulinwardnessmarrowmeatnubpith

   Broadercontent

   Narrowerbare boneshypostasisquiddityquintessencestuff

   Canada · United Kingdom

Questions about nitty-gritty

What does nitty-gritty mean?

nitty-gritty means "the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience".

How many syllables are in nitty-gritty?

nitty-gritty has 4 syllables: nit-ty--grit-ty. The stress falls on "ty-".

What is another word for nitty-gritty?

Close synonyms include kernel, substance, core, center, centre. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is nitty-gritty a common word?

nitty-gritty is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.