gruff

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gruff

(grŭf)

adj. gruff·er, gruff·est

1. Brusque or stern in manner or appearance: a gruff reply.

2. Hoarse; harsh: a gruff voice.

[Dutch grof, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German.]

gruff′ly adv.

gruff′ness n.

Synonyms: gruff, brusque, blunt², curt
These adjectives mean abrupt and sometimes discourteous in manner or speech. Gruff implies roughness or surliness but does not necessarily suggest rudeness: a decent fellow once you get past the gruff manner. Brusque emphasizes rude abruptness: dismissed us with a brusque wave of the hand. Blunt stresses utter frankness and usually a disconcerting directness: was blunt in her disapproval of the idea. Curt denotes usually rude briefness and abruptness of speech: a curt, two-line letter of rejection.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gruff

(ɡrʌf)

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]

ˈgruffish adj

ˈgruffly adv

ˈgruffness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

gruff

(grʌf)

adj. -er, -est.

1. low and harsh; hoarse: a gruff voice.

2. rough, brusque, or surly: a gruff manner.

[1525–35; < Middle Dutch grof coarse, c. Old High German grob]

gruff′ly, adv.

gruff′ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	gruff - brusque and surly and forbidding; "crusty remarks"; "a crusty old man"; "his curmudgeonly temper"; "gruff manner"; "a gruff reply" curmudgeonly, ill-humored, ill-humoured, crusty ill-natured - having an irritable and unpleasant disposition
	2.	gruff - deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion; "gruff voices"; "the dog's gruff barking"; "hoarse cries"; "makes all the instruments sound powerful but husky"- Virgil Thomson hoarse, husky cacophonic, cacophonous - having an unpleasant sound; "as cacophonous as a henyard"- John McCarten

gruff

adjective

1. hoarse, rough, harsh, rasping, husky, low, croaking, throaty, guttural He picked up the phone expecting to hear the chairman's gruff voice.
hoarse sweet, smooth, mellifluous

2. surly, rough, rude, grumpy, blunt, crabbed, crusty, sullen, bad-tempered, curt, churlish, bearish, brusque, impolite, grouchy (informal), ungracious, discourteous, uncivil, ill-humoured, unmannerly, ill-natured His gruff exterior concealed a kind heart.
surly kind, pleasant, polite, gracious, courteous, good-tempered

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

gruff

adjective

1. Rudely unceremonious:

abrupt, blunt, brief, brusque, crusty, curt, short, short-spoken.

2. Low and grating in sound:

croaking, croaky, hoarse, husky.

Translations

غليظ، أجَشفَظ، غير وُدّي

chraplavýdrsnýnevrlý

bryskgrovhæsstuds

borstig mürrisch schroff

bougon bourru brusque grognon quinteux

rekedtes

hranalegurrámur, hás

burbero rauco roco [di voce]scortese sgarbato

gergždžiančiu balsugergždžiantisstačiokiškumas

nedraudzīgsparupjšpiesmacisskarbs

hes

boğuk haşin kaba ters

粗哑的粗暴的

gruff

[grʌf] ADJ (gruffer (compar) (gruffest (superl))) [voice] → ronco; [manner] → brusco

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

gruff

[ˈgrʌf] adj [voice] → bourru(e); [exterior] → bourru(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

gruff

adj voice → barsch; (= brusque) person, manner → barsch, schroff; exterior → bärbeißig

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

gruff

[grʌf] adj (-er (comp) (-est (superl))) → burbero/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

gruff

(graf) adjective

1. deep and rough. a gruff voice.

2. (seeming to be) unfriendly. a gruff old man.

ˈgruffly adverb

ˈgruffness noun

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Her voice was gruffer, her manner more downright, and she was inclined to patronize the more foolish virgin.

View in context

The gruff voice was gruffer than ever, as the old gentleman said abruptly, after the dreadful pause, "So you're not afraid of me, hey?"

View in context

A: I spoke to a group of Northwestern University freshmen, and afterward, one of them came up to me and said that he had expected someone in the moving industry to be larger, gruffer, and possibly tattooed!

'Count your successes, not your failures'

However, nudge the 'Sport' button on the centre console and its engine sound, piped through the car's speakers, is electronically manipulated to be beefier and gruffer. It also turns the dials red, tightens up the steering and sharpens the throttle response.

Peugeot has turned up the GTI heat

Matched to an eight-speed automatic box using a lever and paddles, it instantly provides a seamless spread of power from depressing the throttle and it can be encouraged to sound gruffer with a sport switch.

Stand out from crowd; ROBIN ROBERTS finds the diesel-powered Maserati Ghibli refreshingly different from prestige rivals

"The sound of the engine was a little gruffer, whereas the V's was a lot smoother, but it was still a Spit-fire and the sound was still like music to your ears.

I saw the Spitfires and thought 'wow' As Thinktank opens its doors to a new Spitfire Gallery Justine Halifax speaks to a former pilot

Matched with an eightspeed automatic box using lever and paddles it instantly provides a seamless spread of power when depressing the throttle and while it is not particularly quiet it can also be encouraged to sound gruffer with a sport switch.

Executive chic from the Maserati stable; DRIVETIME

Matched with an eight-speed automatic box using lever and paddles, it instantly provides a seamless spread of power from depressing the throttle and while it is not particularly quiet, it can also be encouraged to sound gruffer with a sport switch.

Maserati Ghibli 3.0D V6

Matched to with an eight-speed automatic box using lever and paddles it instantly provides a seamless spread of power from depressing the throttle and while it is not particularly quiet it can also be encouraged to sound gruffer with a sport switch.

Maserati makes executive decision

Setting aside Grutter's questionable recognition of the non-remedial diversity" rationale as sufficient justification for engaging in race-conscious decision-making, the Court's failure to (1) respect the district court's conclusion that the admissions policy functioned as a quota, and (2) honestly come to grips with the reality of how the pursuit of "critical mass actually functioned within the law school's system, certainly are among the more disturbing aspects of Gruffer. Because these failures were passed along by default in Fisher, they will continue to confound colleges and universities attempting to implement race-based admissions policies, not to mention the courts that may be called upon to review Gruffer-like policies in the future.

Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin: Grutter (not) revisited

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