Word.ws English Dictionary

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)

  1. (idiomatic) 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 presentgoes against the grain
present participlegoing against the grain
pastwent against the grain
past participlegone 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

  1. go about one's business
  2. go about one's day
  3. go about to
  4. go after
  5. go against
  6. go against the grain
  7. go ahead
  8. go ahead with
  9. go all around the houses
  10. go all around the Wrekin
  11. go all out

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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-go against the grain.ogg.

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