gruff
Example Sentences
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“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
Most of the characters are flat and the portrayals stagey, starting with Mr. Grammer’s gruff but likable Fairfax.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
The voice that had called her name wasn’t low and gruff like Baaz’s, but friendly and familiar.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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
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
The gruff voice was gruffer than ever, as the old gentleman said abruptly, after the dreadful pause, “So you’re not afraid of me, hey?”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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
"What do you mean by bringing me this dirty piece of paper?" shouted the king in his biggest, deepest, gruffest voice.
From Fairy Tales from Brazil How and Why Tales from Brazilian Folk-Lore by Elsie Spicer Eells
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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