gruff
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Senate, the gruff oysterman opened with a joke.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
The details were salacious and shocking to his peers, who’d known him as a socially awkward, occasionally gruff finance bro.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
Even the formidable C. Aubrey Smith, as the gruff chairman of Colet & Cie., never crosses her directly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
He stays gruff, of course, but you sense that Ray is as manacled by his authoritarian role as Colin literally is in his hungry, slurping devotion to his master.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2026
“Then you get into trouble,” said Hadel in a gruff voice.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Dad was gruffer, but still avoided saying it outright.
From Slate ● May 29, 2018
“There was a handful of people here for something yesterday,” says the voice, which seems to be getting gruffer.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 7, 2018
Tanto is louder, Oz is gruffer, Rone is an old friend of Jack's from past tours of duty.
From The Verge ● Jan. 14, 2016
What light can Billy Joel shed on “Maybe I’m Amazed” or “Live and Let Die” when the only difference between Joel and McCartney’s performances is Joel’s slightly gruffer voice?
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2014
Before I could react, Tyson’s voice changed again, becoming deeper and gruffer, like the other guy we’d heard talking to Luke outside the cafeteria.
From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan
Possessing one of the sharpest minds in the business, Prince was one of its gruffest truth-tellers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2019
Here bringing heart to what could be a harsh cad, in even his his gruffest, roughest performances, Finney always found an emotional center that allowed audiences in.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2019
“Loving you is complicated,” he announces, in his gruffest tone: the “you” is himself, hip-hop, and his own success.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 18, 2015
Mr. Bradlee looked up from his omnipresent crossword puzzle, “and in his gruffest voice,” Pincus recalled, “he said, ‘You ought to be paying me for all the fun you’re having.’ ”
From Washington Post
Now, both together, in the gruffest voice you can muster.
From The Madcap of the School by Salmon, Balliol
Vocabulary lists containing gruff
100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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The Girl Who Drank the Moon
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Auggie & Me
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