Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
graffito

graffito

1 8.9
A picture or words on a surface used to show a feeling
  • noun
  • /ɡrəˈfiːtoʊ/
translation icon : graffito
  • Through the small crack in his cab's curtains, Doron saw a fresh graffito on the walls that were bouncing past.

Examples

  • The graffito strikes against the image.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Tourists often stop to take pictures of the famous graffito that reads 'Art is Freedom' on the city's walls.

  • Whatever the specific message of a graffito, the fact that it is written means that it is intended to contradict and cancel.

    Academic text (1994)

  • "As they drove off, Julian saw a graffito remnant: no Alpha Cen, no linking symbol, just 'Death.'"

    Fiction book (1996)

  • I can vividly recall graffito on a New York University facade, circa 1968, which said, "Make them professors teach you only what you want to learn."

    Academic text (1996)

  • The colorful graffito on the old brick wall expressed the artist's views about the community.

  • A large graffito depicting a peace sign brightened the otherwise dull alley.

Synonyms

graffiti
vsgraffito
144 5.8

Pictures or words painted on walls and public places without permission

refers to a single scratched or written image often viewed as expression not crime
graff
vsgraffito
  • Slang
1 9.1

A spray-painted picture or words on a public wall

is a single scratched or written image presented more neutrally than informal tagging

How Marked

graffito
1 8.9
scratch
203 1.6

Surface Forms

graffito singular
graffiti plural

Etymology

Graffito comes from the Italian verb graffiare, which means 'to scratch', and it is the single form of graffiti. So a graffito is literally a 'scratched' mark or drawing on a wall, which is why we use it for one piece of wall writing or carved art.