nitty-gritty

Noun

1.

nitty-gritty - the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story" Synonyms: essence, heart and soul, inwardness, gist, pith, substance, meat, nub, kernel, core, sum, center, heart, marrow

bare bones, center, cognitive content, content, core, essence, gist, haecceity, heart, heart and soul, hypostasis, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, mental object, nub, pith, quiddity, quintessence, stuff, substance, sum