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gristly

gristly

1 7.8
Food, especially meat, that has tough parts that are hard to chew
  • adjective
  • /ˈɡrɪstli/
translation icon : cartilaginoso
  • It's not as chewy and gristly as other testicles I've had on this show.

Examples

  • You're trying to melt my gristly little heart with goo.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The gristly woman in Art Black had wisely stepped back, out of the way of the pumped-up old men.

    Blog text (31)
  • I'm just a gristly, old, crooked man.

  • Then the best part: lifting that vile jack from the cooler and running the hook through its gristly eyes.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • With 2 plump, juicy children around, why should they bother with a couple of gristly mouthfuls like you?

  • For 31 Days of Spoooktacular, I wanted to do the occasional spotlight on the monsters that have formed the deep and gristly backbone of pop culture.

    Blog text (27)
  • From out of nowhere, a woman had appeared on the other side of the glass wall, a blonde, bony, gristly Americana trying to look young in a pair of Art World Black stovepipe pants and an Art World Black T-shirt with a deep V-neck.

    Blog text (31)
  • The stew was delicious, but it had some gristly pieces of meat that were hard to chew.

  • I ordered the beef, which unfortunately turned out to be quite gristly and tough.

  • Even though the roast looked appealing, many bites were filled with gristly chunks that made it difficult to enjoy.

Synonyms

tough
vsgristly
31 1.7

Hard to cut and chew, often meat or old bread

specifies internal connective tissue rather than only general hardness
chewy
vsgristly
27 1.0

Hard to bite and break with your teeth because it is tough and a little rubbery

focuses on firm internal tissue rather than chewing effort
rubbery
vsgristly
5 3.7

Tough and hard to chew, like overcooked meat or seafood

is about firm internal tissue rather than elastic bounce
stringy
vsgristly
3 4.4

Tough and full of thin fibers that are hard to chew

refers to dense internal tissue rather than separated strands
fibrous
vsgristly
1 6.0

Having tough stringy parts that are hard to chew

means dense internal tissue rather than emphasis on long fibers
cartilaginous
vsgristly
  • Specialized
8.4

Having a firm, chewy texture like the tissue inside ears and noses

focuses on cartilage quality rather than general fibrousness

Antonyms

56 1.0

Easy to cut or chew, not tough

19 4.2

Soft and full of juice, like ripe fruit or cooked meat

How Tough

gristly
1 7.8
tough
31 1.7
chewy
27 1.0
tender
56 1.0

Surface Forms

gristly positive
gristlier comparative
gristliest superlative

Morphology

gristly = gristle (transparent) = gristle + y

Formed by adding the productive adjective-forming suffix '-y' to the noun 'gristle', giving the straightforward meaning 'containing gristle' or 'having a lot of gristle'.

Etymology

Gristly comes from the noun gristle, which means 'tough, chewy tissue in meat', plus the ending -y meaning 'full of'. So something gristly is 'full of gristle' and is hard to chew.