Is graffiti singular or plural?: Usage Guide
Graffiti, which also serves as the plural of graffito, is commonly used as a singular mass noun.
graffiti … was depressing people who rode the subways
—
New Yorker
New Yorker
graffiti comes in various styles
—S. K. Oberbeck
S. K. Oberbeck
This use is well established although not yet as well established as the mass-noun use of data. Use of graffiti as a singular count noun is still quite rare and is not standard.
graffitied; graffitiing
grə-ˈfē-(ˌ)tē-iŋ 
gra-,
grä-
also graffiting
grə-ˈfē-tiŋ
gra-,
grä-
: to draw graffiti on : to deface with graffiti
graffitied walls
Examples of graffiti in a Sentence
Noun
The walls of the old building are covered with graffiti.
Recent Examples on the Web
Eyad Kourdi, CNN, 31 Jan. 2025
The order would require agency and department heads to provide the White House with recommendations within 60 days and outline plans for the Department of Justice to investigate pro-Hamas graffiti and intimidation, the Post reported.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 30 Jan. 2025
Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 12 Sep. 2024
In New York City, antisemites graffiti the walls with Jew-hatred.
—Mike Wagenheim, Sun Sentinel, 22 Dec. 2022
See all Example Sentences for graffiti 
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Noun
Protests against the Assad regime spread quickly in the spring of that year after a group of children were arrested and tortured for writing anti-regime graffiti on walls in the city of Deraa.
—Eyad Kourdi, CNN, 31 Jan. 2025
The order would require agency and department heads to provide the White House with recommendations within 60 days and outline plans for the Department of Justice to investigate pro-Hamas graffiti and intimidation, the Post reported.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 30 Jan. 2025
Verb
The London Street Art outing where my daughter got to graffiti a butterfly onto a building wall provided some of the cutest pictures from the trip.
—Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 12 Sep. 2024
In New York City, antisemites graffiti the walls with Jew-hatred.
—Mike Wagenheim, Sun Sentinel, 22 Dec. 2022
See all Example Sentences for graffiti
Dictionary Entries Near graffiti
Cite this Entry
“Graffiti.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/graffiti. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025.
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