gruff
Example Sentences
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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
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
Her stamina impresses her manager, Greg, a gruff gay man who tells her about the gay club in town, where she meets Tina, the woman who teaches her acceptance through unconditional love.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
But though his voice was gruff, there was a light in his bloodshot eyes.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Dad was gruffer, but still avoided saying it outright.
From Slate ● May 29, 2018
Sanchez is a slightly gruffer presence in the background.
From New York Times ● Jun. 12, 2017
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
Then a third voice, gruffer than the first, answered: “I’m the blue KW hauling a dry box.”
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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
"Chug-a-rum!" replied Grandfather Frog in his deepest, gruffest voice.
From Mother West Wind 'Why' Stories by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess
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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