How to pronounce grit
Say it like GRIT. Grit is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce grit. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- GRIT
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Grit pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- GRITSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "i" in sit.
American vs British pronunciation of grit
American and British speakers say grit in essentially the same way: /ɡrɪt/ in the US and /ɡrɪt/ in the UK.
British respelling: grit.
What does grit mean?
- A collection of hard small materials, such as dirt, ground stone, debris from sandblasting or other such grinding, or swarf from metalworking.“The flower beds were white with grit from sand blasting the flagstone walkways.”
- Sand or a sand–salt mixture spread on wet and, especially, icy roads and footpaths to improve traction.
- Small, hard, inedible particles in food.“These cookies seem to have grit from nutshells in them.”
- Husked but unground oats.
- Coarsely ground corn or hominy used as porridge.“grits and eggs”
- To clench (one's teeth), particularly in reaction to pain or anger.“We had no choice but to grit our teeth and get on with it.”
- To cover with grit.
Where does grit come from?
With early modern vowel shortening, from Middle English grete, griet, from Old English grēot, from Proto-West Germanic *greut, from Proto-Germanic *greutą.
Words that rhyme with grit
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of grit.
Questions about saying grit
How do you pronounce grit?
Say GRIT. The American pronunciation is /ɡrɪt/. In British English it is /ɡrɪt/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in grit?
Grit is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: GRIT.
Do Americans and Brits say grit the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /ɡrɪt/ and the British form is /ɡrɪt/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.