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Meanings of gruff in English

Brusque and surly and forbidding.

Related terms

Deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion.

Related terms
Synonyms
Examples for "hoarse"
Examples for "hoarse"
1
At last he gasped forth in the hoarse whisper of mortal terror:
How Deacon Tubman and Parson Whitney Kept New Year's / And Other...
2
His voice is husky and hoarse, almost impossible for them to understand.
Black house
3
His hoarse voice broke the hush; he said to the young man:
O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1920
4
The great stands were hoarse with shouting; for here ended the game.
The Half-Back: A Story of School, Football, and Golf
5
In the air far above he heard the hoarse cries of sea-gulls.
Lost in the Fog
1
Yet even taking that into account, her voice today sounds pretty husky.
The Irish Times
2
I'm sure they'd be glad to have you, the husky voice said.
Moonfall
3
The lambs said most; and the sheep agreed with a husky croak.
An Englishwoman's Love-Letters
4
Señora Barenna was chattering in her deep husky tones immediately behind them.
In Kedar's Tents
5
His voice is husky and hoarse, almost impossible for them to understand.
Black house
Usage of gruff in English
1
The tones were gruff, and almost Indian-like in the brevity of expression.
The Story of the Foss River Ranch: A Tale of the Northwest
2
Nevertheless, in spite of himself, he went on in a gruff voice:
The Teeth of the Tiger
3
His gruff voice was the one I'd heard talking with Luke earlier.
The Sea of Monsters
4
His voice was gruff, his manner professional, and the news was bad.
Man in the Middle
5
When he was within talking distance he said in a gruff voice:
A Bid for Fortune; Or, Dr. Nikola's Vendetta
6
He was gruff, but his loyalty to Beauvoir was clear and unequivocal.
Once bitten, twice dead
7
It was Leverage who brought it up, in his characteristically gruff way.
Midnight
8
My wife did, but received only a gruff response from the general.
Danger; Or, Wounded in the House of a Friend
9
She thought the voice had been gruff, but that didn't mean anything.
Dolly departed
10
A gruff order from the General's shattered the spell that bound them.
The Last Gladiatrix
11
He had the loud gruff voice which implies the right to command.
Elsie Venner
12
He looked at the floor guiltily and spoke in a gruff voice.
Dangerous Women
13
When he bade goodnight to Parkins, he murmured in a gruff undertone:
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
14
Alwa returned his salute, and raised his voice in a gruff command.
Rung Ho! A Novel
15
It would be very amusing, said Andrews in a gruff, breathless voice.
Three Soldiers
16
But evidently this was not the morning for Tighe to be gruff.
The Sheriff's Son
About this term
More collocations
Gruff through the time
Gruff across language varieties
United Kingdom
Common
United States of America
Common