gruff
Use Gruff in a sentence
adjective, gruff·er, gruff·est.
1.
low and harsh; hoarse: a gruff voice.
2.
rough, brusque, or surly: a gruff manner.
Origin:
1525–35; < Middle Dutch grof coarse; cognate with German grob
1525–35; < Middle Dutch grof coarse; cognate with German grob
Related forms
gruff·ish, adjective
gruff·ly, adverb
gruff·ness, noun
un·gruff, adjective
Synonyms
2. curt.
2. curt.
Antonyms
2. courteous.
2. courteous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To gruff
Collins
World English Dictionary
gruff (ɡrʌf) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | rough or surly in manner, speech, etc: a gruff reply |
| 2. | (of a voice, bark, etc) low and throaty |
| [C16: originally Scottish, from Dutch grof, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German girob; related to Old English hrēof, Lithuanian kraupùs] | |
| 'gruffish | |
| —adj | |
| 'gruffly | |
| —adv | |
| 'gruffness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Gruff
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
gruff
1533, from M.Du. or M.L.G. grof "coarse (in quality), thick, large" (cognate with O.E. hreof, O.N. hrjufr "rough, scabby"). Sense of "rough, surly" first recorded c.1690.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Cite This Source
Example sentences
Shortly after the shooting, the gruff former soldier declared a state of emergency.
He also showed his gruff sense of humor on occasion.
Brash and blunt with a cleft chin and a bushy mustache, he projects a gruff, old-fashioned avuncularity.
The soldier cranes his neck and traces the gruff voice to a rooftop.
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