Gruff

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Gruff \Gruff\ (gr[u^]f), a. [Compar. {Gruffer} (gr[u^]f"[~e]r);
     superl. {Gruffest}.] [D. grof; akin to G. grob, OHG. gerob,
     grob, Dan. grov, Sw. grof, perh. akin to AS. rc['o]fan to
     break, Z. reavc, rupture, g- standing for the AS. prefix ge-,
     Goth. ga-.]
     Of a rough or stern manner, voice, or countenance; sour;


     surly; severe; harsh. --Addison.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Gruff, disagreeable, sarcastic remarks.  --Thackeray.
     -- {Gruff"ly}, adv. -- {Gruff"ness}, n.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  gruff
       adj 1: brusque and surly and forbidding; "crusty remarks"; "a
              crusty old man"; "his curmudgeonly temper"; "gruff
              manner"; "a gruff reply" [syn: {crusty}, {curmudgeonly},
               {ill-humored}, {ill-humoured}]
       2: 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 [syn: {hoarse}, {husky}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  86 Moby Thesaurus words for "gruff":
     abrupt, acerb, acid, acrimonious, aggressive, bad-tempered,
     bearish, beastly, biting, bluff, blunt, boorish, brash, brassy,
     brazen, brusque, cantankerous, caustic, cavalier, choked, churlish,
     coarse, crabbed, crabby, cracked, croaking, croaky, cross,
     crotchety, crusty, curt, cutting, deep, dour, dry, fierce, grouchy,
     growling, grumbling, grumbly, grumpish, grumpy, guttural, harsh,
     harsh-sounding, hoarse, husky, ill-humored, ill-natured, irascible,
     irritable, low, metallic, morose, peevish, petulant, querulous,
     ragged, rasping, raucid, raucous, rough, roupy, rude, saturnine,
     severe, sharp, short, short-tempered, snippety, snippy, sour,
     squawking, squawky, stertorous, stinging, strangled, sulky, sullen,
     surly, testy, thick, throaty, tinny, truculent, uncivil