Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Plural of graffito.
Wiktionary
- n. A form of vandalism involving painting text or images in public places.
- n. A form of art involving painting text or images in public places.
- n. archaeology, countable Informal inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., as opposed to official inscriptions.
- v. To create such images
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., found on the walls of ancient sepulchers or ruins, as in the Catacombs, or at Pompeii.
- n. any writings or drawings on a surface in a public place, placed there without authorization of the owner of the object on which it is written. Such
graffiti are usually unwelcome, and are considered as form of vandalism.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a rude decoration inscribed on rocks or walls
Etymologies
- From Italian graffiti (Wiktionary)
- Italian, pl. of graffito; see graffito. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“And our last stop is, play the highlight of the "Express Yourself" tour is what we call the graffiti wall.”
“However, we -- there were constant possibly what we call graffiti in America on walls trying to persuade the neutral civilians in Ramadi toward their sides and their actions against us.”
“He said police are evaluating how they deal with young offenders and he himself is working to continue what he calls "graffiti community building" - community-designed graffiti art projects.”
“This kind of graffiti is ruining many places in Kuwait and one of them is where I live.”
Global Voices in English » Kuwait: Is Graffiti Art or Vandalism?
“This masterpiece of "graffiti" is an interesting representation of the original door from Sullivan's Transportation Building from the 1892 Columbian Exposition.”
“The word graffiti comes from a Latin origin which means to scrape away to reveal something below, and people have been practising it since the beginning of time, "she says.”
“The reactions of the citizens are mixed: some call for an increase in the sanctions for those who practice graffiti, increased fines and detention time; others consider that graffiti is not a crime that deserves imprisonment.”
Global Voices in English » Mexico: Young Graffiti Writers Arrested in Monterrey
“The post attracted 56 comments so far, ranging from those who thought that engaging in graffiti was better than “harassing girls” at malls to those who expressed outrage and suggested getting the police involved.”
Global Voices in English » Kuwait: Is Graffiti Art or Vandalism?
“Reverse graffiti is a type of street art that effaces – not defaces – public property.”
REVERSE GRAFFITI: South African Artists Tag Walls By Scrubbing Them Clean | Inhabitat
“In Mexico City, graffiti is a bit like prostitution.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘graffiti’.
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Scribblative ✍
Scrawlings, notes, odd writings, and messages.
doodle, notation, scrawl, tracing, scribble, latrinalia, sketch, squiggle, notelet, post-it, chicken scratch, caligraphy and 88 more...
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Pluralia Tantum
Nouns that are common in plural form but are non-existent or rarely used in singular form.
scissors, thanks, clothes, remains, tights, trousers, pants, news, billiards, means, mathematics, physics and 221 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Spelling Bee list 2011
Abalone, ablution, absolution, aboriginally, abstemious, academician, acclamation, accommodation, acculturation, acetic, acetone, acme and 590 more...
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Apples to Apples: Red Cards
A complete list of the red cards (things) from the popular word game.
bad haircut, carnival workers, grave robbers, Chinatown, a cheap motel, killer whales, UV rays, flat tire, Japan, Michelangelo, Alfred Hitchcock, Cindy Crawford and 734 more...
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punnything's Words
existentialist, configure, numismatist, autumnal, desist, ennui, taciturn, vacillate, naivete, bloodletting, tete-a-tete, concentric and 274 more...
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Favorite Words
crunk, ostentatious, shellac, smoot, thrice, somnambulant, nefarious, nostalgic, shenanigans, hooligans, oracle, torr and 142 more...
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Oregon words
Words that might have something to do with the most beautiful state in the union.
fir, cascade, gorge, desert, pacific, salmon, winery, filbert, green, overcast, rufus, pear and 35 more...
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TT2 Lesson 18
Nevada, basin, faraway, inland, onto, rocky, peak, period, seafloor, prehistoric, historic, history and 77 more...
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Italian
coloratura, graffiti, zuchetto, carpaccio, tiramisu, terrazzo, chiaroscuro, arpeggio, allegro, malocchio, capisce, fianchetto and 4 more...
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Day Words
cabazitaxel, investor, dosh, portfolio, transparency, estrangement, pantomime, symposium, nub, compartmentalise, crude, sarcastic and 42 more...
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Mass Nouns
From wikipedia: "In English, mass nouns are characterized by the fact that they cannot be directly modified by a numeral without specifying a unit of measurement, and that they cannot combine with ...
advice, blood, cattle, equipment, furniture, grass, information, knowledge, mathematics, meat, money, music and 31 more...
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The Writing on the Wall
Or the pictures. Or the ads. You get the idea. :-)
petroglyph, pictograph, pictogram, graffiti, pintada, ideogram, billboard, signboard, placard, poster, plaque, affiche and 5 more...
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round 1
no rhyme or reason this time around
touché, douché, phrenology, crispy, eye candy, pyre, graffiti, faith, kundalini, orgasm, soul, prowess, convulsion of bliss
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russell's Words
tapas, malarkey, pedantic, intrepid, schmooze, wonk, boobs, flickr, ribaldry, ribald, juxtapose, sidereal and 46 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for graffiti.
samba la all day Dec 4, 2009
sonofgroucho This shocking example was found at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Apr 10, 2007