gruff

/grəf/

/grəf/

Other forms: gruffer; gruffest

Gruff is an abrupt or forbidding tone. It's the kind of short, brusque response you'd give a telemarketer who called you in the middle of dinner — right before you hung up.

Gruff is the perfect adjective to describe a crotchety old man who rarely leaves his house and yells at any children who dare to cross his lawn. You can almost imagine the rough tone of his voice as he points his cane at those pesky "trespassers," his deep, terrifying bark, causing all the children on his lawn to immediately scatter.

Definitions of gruff

1. adjective

   brusque and surly and forbidding
   “gruff manner”

   “a gruff reply”

   synonyms: crusty, curmudgeonly, ill-humored, ill-humoured

   ill-natured

   having an irritable and unpleasant disposition
2. adjective

   deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion
   “gruff voices”

   “the dog's gruff barking”

   synonyms: hoarse, husky

   cacophonic, cacophonous

   having an unpleasant sound