the nitty-gritty
noun
informal
: the most important and basic facts or details about something
He deals with the nitty-gritty of running the department.
Let's get down to the nitty-gritty and find out what happened.
Examples of the nitty-gritty in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Images like this one help astronomers better understand the nitty-gritty details of star formation, giving us more clues about the early universe and its first stars.
—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 21 Jan. 2026
While the invites can give the basics of events, the website will get into the nitty-gritty of all your details.
—Shelby Wax, Vogue, 20 Jan. 2026
But, barring that, business leaders seem to be less wowed by the hype around AI this year and more concerned with the nitty-gritty of how to implement the technology successfully at scale.
—Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 20 Jan. 2026
During filming, Fosse became fixated on getting the minutiae right, the nitty-gritty particulars.
—Lili Anolik, Vanity Fair, 12 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for the nitty-gritty
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 21 Jan. 2026
While the invites can give the basics of events, the website will get into the nitty-gritty of all your details.
—Shelby Wax, Vogue, 20 Jan. 2026
But, barring that, business leaders seem to be less wowed by the hype around AI this year and more concerned with the nitty-gritty of how to implement the technology successfully at scale.
—Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 20 Jan. 2026
During filming, Fosse became fixated on getting the minutiae right, the nitty-gritty particulars.
—Lili Anolik, Vanity Fair, 12 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for the nitty-gritty
Cite this Entry
“The nitty-gritty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20nitty-gritty. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
