go against the grain
go against the grain verb: to defy convention or norms; to do something in a manner that is unusual or out of the ordinary.
Verb
go against the grain (third-person singular simple present goes against the grain, present participle going against the grain, simple past went against the grain, past participle gone against the grain)
- To defy convention or norms; to do something in a manner that is unusual or out of the ordinary.
- His method certainly goes against the grain, but it is unquestionably effective.
- Blondes do have more fun, Mrs. [Kelly] Rowland!! Go against the grain this fall and opt for a fully opaque, bright-as-hell platinum dye job. Although it’s unexpected for a season filled with dark colors, the cool undertones are a masterful way to manipulate your way into a fall ’do while going...2024 September 5, Beth Gillette, “24 Fall Hair Colors Every Celebrity Is Asking for Rn”, in Cosmopolitan
- Synonyms:
- run counter
Synonyms of go against the grain
Forms of go against the grain
| third-person singular present | goes against the grain |
|---|---|
| present participle | going against the grain |
| past | went against the grain |
| past participle | gone against the grain |
Questions about go against the grain
- What does go against the grain mean?
- Go against the grain means to defy convention or norms; to do something in a manner that is unusual or out of the ordinary.
- What part of speech is go against the grain?
- Go against the grain is a verb.
- What is the past tense of go against the grain?
- The past tense of go against the grain is went against the grain.
Words near go against the grain in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: go against the grain (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-go against the grain.ogg.
Cite this entry: “go against the grain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/go_against_the_grain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
