gritty

Preposition: of

• life: It is too abstract, too divorced from the nitty gritty of business life.

Modifies a noun

• realism: A bit of gritty realism, which I am sure got a few record executives hot under the collar.
• dramas: The vast majority of New Queer Cinema works were gritty urban dramas, set in New York or Chicago, Portland or London.
• thriller: His next slated project is the gritty urban thriller, Cold Living.
• portrayal: Well this film is all the better for the gritty portrayal of the social outcast that Ben Sanderson has become.
• compost: The sage has been put into a pot of gritty compost instead.
• drama: What follows is gritty kitchen sink drama of the highest order.

Modifying Another Word

• slightly: Only slightly gritty from where the lid had come off in the tackle sack!
• really: We'd love to see you take on a really gritty role.
• very: All these ' nice ' stories are actually very gritty at their core.
• much: This particular album saw a much grittier side from David.
• rather: I also dip into London Orbital by Iain Sinclair he has the same rather gritty view of the capital.
• so: Good drainage is essential for drought tolerant plants and so gritty topsoil has been used, mounded up into bunds over rubble filled subsoil.

Used with adjective complement

• feel: What makes you think you killed her? My eyes feel gritty.
• get: Each part seems to get even grittier as the film flows on.