It is a low shrub with small leaves and rounded groups of fluffy pale to deep pink flowers in late spring or early summer, following rain.

[2] Verticordia gracilis was first formally described by Alex George in 1991 and the description was published in Nuytsia from specimens north of Mount Holland, north-east of Hyden.

[1][3] The specific epithet (gracilis) is a Latin word meaning "thin" or "slender"[4] referring to the stems and flower stalks.

It is found between Merredin, the Dragon Rocks Nature Reserve and Mount Holland[2] in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie and Mallee biogeographic regions.

[6][7] Verticordia gracilis is classified as "Priority Three" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.