What does graffiti mean?

Definitions for graffiti
grəˈfi tigraf·fi·ti

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word graffiti.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. graffito, graffitinoun

    a rude decoration inscribed on rocks or walls

GCIDE

  1. Graffitinoun

    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.

Wiktionary

  1. graffitinoun

    A form of vandalism involving painting text or images in public places.

  2. graffitinoun

    A form of art involving painting text or images in public places.

  3. graffitinoun

    Informal inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., as opposed to official inscriptions.

  4. graffitiverb

    To create such images

  5. Etymology: From graffiti

Wikipedia

  1. Graffiti

    Graffiti (plural; singular graffiti or graffito, the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire.Graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime, citing the use of graffiti by street gangs to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Graffiti has become visualized as a growing urban "problem" for many cities in industrialized nations, spreading from the New York City subway system and Philadelphia in the early 1970s to the rest of the United States and Europe and other world regions.

ChatGPT

  1. graffiti

    Graffiti refers to drawings, writings, or symbols that are scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place. It often has different styles and is considered a form of artistic expression and protest, although it is seen by some as vandalism due to its illegal nature.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Graffiti

    inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., found on the walls of ancient sepulchers or ruins, as in the Catacombs, or at Pompeii

  2. Etymology: [It., pl. of graffito scratched]

Wikidata

  1. Graffiti

    Graffiti is writing or drawings that have been scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and it has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire. In modern times, paint, particularly spray paint, and marker pens have become the most commonly used graffiti materials. In most countries, marking or painting property without the property owner's consent is considered defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime. Graffiti may also express underlying social and political messages and a whole genre of artistic expression is based upon spray paint graffiti styles. Within hip hop culture, graffiti has evolved alongside hip hop music, b-boying, and other elements. Unrelated to hip-hop graffiti, gangs use their own form of graffiti to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Controversies that surround graffiti continue to create disagreement amongst city officials, law enforcement, and writers who wish to display and appreciate work in public locations. There are many different types and styles of graffiti and it is a rapidly developing art form whose value is highly contested and reviled by many authorities while also subject to protection, sometimes within the same jurisdiction.

Suggested Resources

  1. graffiti

    Song lyrics by graffiti -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by graffiti on the Lyrics.com website.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of graffiti in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of graffiti in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of graffiti in a Sentence

  1. Lauren McLean:

    The antisemitic messages contained in the graffiti found along the Greenbelt put a literal and figurative stain on Boise Parks and Recreation workers community. This will not be tolerated, hate speech is reprehensible. It is not who( Boise Parks and Recreation workers) are as a city and is not part of Boise Parks and Recreation workers shared values. I invite all good people of Boise to stand with me, as I stand with Boise Parks and Recreation workers Jewish neighbors, to rebuke this hate.

  2. Hope Jay:

    For the most part, there were balloons, there was a deer that went crooked on the wall, there was some saran wrap, there's been no damage, no destruction, no graffiti, no defacing of property, and no police reports.

  3. George Steiner:

    The violent illiteracies of the graffiti, the clenched silence of the adolescent, the nonsense cries from the stage-happening, are resolutely strategic. The insurgent and the freak-out have broken off discourse with a cultural system which they despise as a cruel, antiquated fraud. They will not bandy words with it. Accept, even momentarily, the conventions of literate linguistic exchange, and you are caught in the net of the old values, of the grammars that can condescend or enslave.

  4. Ari Hoffman:

    Graffiti is not some dude writing ‘Jim was here,’ graffiti is about marking territory, by gangs or dealers, or even by people living on the streets, who are being used for criminal activity.

  5. Paul Proios:

    Graffiti has gotten really bad in the city, for the first time ever, graffiti is marring the Hines Public Market building — a historical site — where our business is located.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

graffiti#10000#13688#100000

Translations for graffiti

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"graffiti." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 14 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/graffiti>.

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