gruff

“We don’t get any locals, and we don’t cook any food right now,” said Mark Bradley, the cafe’s gruff but genial manager.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

As Morrison jammed in the kitchen, Hansard said his request for one of his songs was met with a gruff response from Morrison.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Senate, the gruff oysterman opened with a joke.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, most leading tenor saxophonists adapted either the hefty, gruff attack of Coleman Hawkins or the airy, linear style of Lester Young.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

“Here’s your ticket,” the gruff voice said, and looking up, they found that it came from a huge Brown Bear who was wearing a coat with brass buttons and a peaked cap on his head.

From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers

“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

Sanchez is a slightly gruffer presence in the background.

From New York Times ● Jun. 12, 2017

Pos and Dave sound older and gruffer, as they should, but their trademark wit and verbal dexterity are still in prime form.

From Slate ● Aug. 30, 2016

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

This time the question was gruffer, like gravel scraping along rusted metal.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

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

Even the policeman who is paid to direct you, replies to your inquiry with the shortest and gruffest monosyllable that will do.

From Glances at Europe In a Series of Letters from Great Britain, France, Italy, Switzerland, &c. During the Summer of 1851. by Horace Greeley