- (sometimes with singular verb)
drawings, messages, etc, often obscene, scribbled on the walls of public lavatories, advertising posters, etc inscriptions or drawings scratched or carved onto a surface, esp rock or pottery
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
graf•fi•ti /grəˈfiti/USA pronunciation n. [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- drawings, writings, or marks made in public places, as walls, signs, or posters.
graf•fi•ti
(grə fē′tē),USA pronunciation n.
graf•fi′tist, n.
- pl. of graffito.
- (used with a pl. v.) 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 sing. v.) such markings as a whole or as constituting a particular group:Not much graffiti appears around here these days.
- Greek grapheîon; compare graphic, grapho-, graft1
- Italian, plural of graffito incised inscription or design, derivative with -ito -ite2 of graffiare to scratch, perh. influenced by presumed Latin *graphīre to write; both probably derivative of Latin graphium stylus
- 1850–55
- 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.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
graf•fi•to
(grə fē′tō),USA pronunciation n., pl. -ti
-
(-tē).USA pronunciation
- Archaeology, Pronounsan ancient drawing or writing scratched on a wall or other surface.
- a single example of graffiti.
- see graffiti
- See graffiti.
'graffiti' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Dubuffet
- Led Zeppelin
- criminalize
- graffito
- hip-hop
- out
- placas
- quality-of-life
- sgraffito
- tag