noun
graffiti
gruh-FEE-tee
noun
1
Words, drawings, or designs painted or scratched onto a wall or other public surface, often without permission.
"The underpass walls were covered in colorful graffiti."
"City crews spent the morning removing graffiti from the subway cars."
verb
1
To mark a surface with such drawings or writing.
"Someone graffitied the side of the abandoned building overnight."
How to Use Graffiti
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishUnauthorized writing or artwork on walls and public surfaces.
Common mistake
"Graffiti" is technically plural in Italian but is almost always treated as a singular mass noun in English ("the graffiti is," not "the graffiti are").
Common pairings
spray-paint graffiti
graffiti artist
remove graffiti
Word Forms
graffitied past tense, graffiti plural, graffitis singular
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The underpass walls were covered in colorful _____.
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian graffiti, the plural of graffito, from graffire ("to scratch"), ultimately from Ancient Greek graphein ("to write").