gritty

Adjective

1. Containing sand or grit; consisting of grit; caused by grit; full of hard particles.
   • Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from...
2. Spirited; resolute; unyielding.
   • That goth woman is very gritty.
   • The runt was the grittiest pup of all; for days he writhed out of one convulsion into the next—calmed from one only to go through it all over again. - 1944, Emily Carr, “Poison”, in The House of All Sorts:
3. Intense and starkly realistic; depicting harsh reality, especially violence.