GRAFFITI Definition & Meaning

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graffiti

[ gruh-fee-tee ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

plural of graffito.
(used with a plural verb) markings, as initials, slogans, or drawings, written, spray-painted, or sketched on a sidewalk, wall of a building or public restroom, or the like:
These graffiti are evidence of the neighborhood's decline.
(used with a singular verb) such markings as a whole or as constituting a particular group:
Not much graffiti appears around here these days.

graffiti

/ ɡ��æˈ�ھ�ː�پ�ː /

plural noun

sometimes with singular verb drawings, messages, etc, often obscene, scribbled on the walls of public lavatories, advertising posters, etc
archaeol inscriptions or drawings scratched or carved onto a surface, esp rock or pottery

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Usage Note

In formal speech and writing graffiti takes a plural verb. In less formal contexts it is sometimes considered a mass noun and is used with a singular verb. The singular graffito is found mostly in archaeological and other technical writing.

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Derived Forms

��ˈ�ھ��پ��, noun

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Other �y��vlog Forms

��·�ھ�t�� noun

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of graffiti¹

1850–55; < Italian, plural of graffito incised inscription or design, derivative with -ito -ite ² of graffiare to scratch, perhaps influenced by presumed Latin *��ī�� to write; both probably derivative of Latin graphium stylus < Greek ��î�ǲ�; graphic, grapho-, graft ¹

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of graffiti¹

C19: graffito from Italian: a little scratch, from graffio, from Latin graphium stylus, from Greek grapheion; see graft ¹

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Example: Judy Baca’s painting of an Olympic runner on the 110 Freeway near the 4th Street exit was whitewashed not by vandals but by an official transit graffiti removal contractor.

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Thanks to my high school students, I had become as enamored of L.A.’s murals and graffiti as I had once been with its celebrities.

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St Joseph's Primary School in Busby, East Renfrewshire, was sprayed with offensive and discriminatory graffiti and there were two fires in children's play areas.

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The dealership had been targeted with a Molotov cocktail attack and graffiti which caused damage of between $5,000 and $20,000, according to a criminal complaint.

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Davids told the BBC his love of art was first sparked when he was a "graffiti artist" when he was younger.

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