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gruff
" Blind Willie Johnson is a pretty big vocal influence. He can be very harsh, like gargly, gruff vocals, but also just slip into some very delicate, vulnerable soft stuff. I like that combination."
Benjamin Booker

Meaning of "gruff" in the English dictionary

DICTIONARY

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD GRUFF

Originally Scottish, from Dutch grof, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German girob; related to Old English hrēof, Lithuanian kraupùs.
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF GRUFF

ɡrʌf


GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF GRUFF

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Gruff is an adjective.
The adjective is the word that accompanies the noun to determine or qualify it.

WHAT DOES GRUFF MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Definition of gruff in the English dictionary

The definition of gruff in the dictionary is rough or surly in manner, speech, etc. Other definition of gruff is low and throaty.



WORDS THAT RHYME WITH GRUFF

antidandruff · crossruff · enrough · grough · overruff · rough · ruff · ruffe · scruff · unrough · woodruff

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE GRUFF

grudging · grudgingly · grue · gruel · gruelingly · grueller · gruelling · gruesome · gruesomely · gruesomeness · gruffily · gruffly · gruffness · gruffy · grufted · grugru · gruiform · Gruis · grum · grumble

WORDS THAT END LIKE GRUFF

bluff · buff · cuff · dandruff · duff · fluff · foodstuff · hot stuff · huff · kid stuff · kids´ stuff · muff · puff · scuff · snuff · stuff · sweet woodruff · that´s the stuff · tuff · up to snuff

Synonyms and antonyms of gruff in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «GRUFF»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «gruff» and belong to the same grammatical category.

Translation of «gruff» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR

TRANSLATION OF GRUFF

Find out the translation of gruff to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of gruff from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «gruff» in English.
zh

Translator English - Chinese

粗暴
1,325 millions of speakers
es

Translator English - Spanish

gruff
570 millions of speakers
en

English

gruff
510 millions of speakers
hi

Translator English - Hindi

कर्कश
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

أجش
280 millions of speakers
ru

Translator English - Russian

грубоватый
278 millions of speakers
pt

Translator English - Portuguese

rude
270 millions of speakers
bn

Translator English - Bengali

বিষাদময়
260 millions of speakers
fr

Translator English - French

bourru
220 millions of speakers
ms

Translator English - Malay

Geram
190 millions of speakers
de

Translator English - German

ruppig
180 millions of speakers
ja

Translator English - Japanese

ぶっきらぼうな
130 millions of speakers
ko

Translator English - Korean

거친
85 millions of speakers
jv

Translator English - Javanese

Gruff
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

thô lô
80 millions of speakers
ta

Translator English - Tamil

முரட்டு தன்மையுடைய
75 millions of speakers
mr

Translator English - Marathi

कर्कश
75 millions of speakers
tr

Translator English - Turkish

hırçın
70 millions of speakers
it

Translator English - Italian

burbero
65 millions of speakers
pl

Translator English - Polish

gburowaty
50 millions of speakers
uk

Translator English - Ukrainian

грубуватий
40 millions of speakers
ro

Translator English - Romanian

aspru
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

τραχύς
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

growwe
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

gruff
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

barsk
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of gruff

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «GRUFF»

Principal search tendencies and common uses of gruff
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «gruff».

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about gruff

EXAMPLES

2 QUOTES WITH «GRUFF»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word gruff.
1
Benjamin Booker
Blind Willie Johnson is a pretty big vocal influence. He can be very harsh, like gargly, gruff vocals, but also just slip into some very delicate, vulnerable soft stuff. I like that combination.
2
Michael Cudlitz
I don't know if I would be a good cop. As gruff as I come off, I take things very emotionally.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «GRUFF»

Discover the use of gruff in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to gruff and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
The three Billy Goats Gruff are hungry and want to go over the bridge to a fine meadow full of grass and daisies where they can eat and eat. But under the bridge lives a troll who’s as mean as he is scary . . .
Paul Galdone, 2009
2
Three Nanny Goats Gruff
The story of "Three nanny goats gruff" is adapted to music and performed as an opera. Children bring the story to life through drama, music, art, language, and gross motor activities.
Carol B. Kaplan-Lyss, Sandi Becker, 1988
3
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
There was a little billy goat gruff, a middle billy goat gruff, and a big billy goat gruff.
‎2007
4
Flip-Flop and the Bully Frogs Gruff
Flip-Flop challenges each of the bullies who do not want to let her cross the bridge.
Janice Levy, 2011
5
The Three Billy Goats Gruff and Other Read-Aloud Stories
Presents a collection of twenty-two folk tales from around the world, including "The Teeny, Tiny Lady", "The Wonderful Pot", and "Why the Field Mouse Is Little".
Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, 1994
6
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
The story of three different-sized goats: small, medium and large who cross the bridge to eat sweet grass, but have to first face the mean troll that lives beneath. This story is about using what you have to conquer and survive obstacles.
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Pat Reynolds, Annette Smith, 1997
7
The Billy Goats Gruff
FICTION. Six titles in the popular "Young Reading" series are re-issued with hardback covers with audio CDs inserted into a wallet inside the back cover, making the book and CD easy to store together.
‎2007
8
Three billy goats Gruff
The three billy goats outsmart the hungry troll who lives under the bridge.
‎1998
9
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
The. Three. Billy. Goats. Gruff. Story Summary Three billy goats live in a valley. One billy goat is small. One billy goat is big. And one billy goat is in the middle. The valley is next to a green meadow. A blue river flows between the valley and the ...
Dona Herweck Rice, 2008
10
The truth about three billy goats Gruff
The troll tells his own version of what happened when three billy goats named Billy, Bill, and William Gruff tried to cross his bridge.
Steven Otfinoski, Rowan Barnes-Murphy, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, 1997

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «GRUFF»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term gruff is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Virtual kidnappers targeting area families
He was pretty gruff and he said, 'I'm a member of a gang and Mexican Mafia. Your daughter has witnessed something she wasn't supposed to ... «KPRC Houston, Jul 15»
2
The Hemsworth effect: Are Australia's masculine actors for export …
While promoting a film of his own earlier this year, Crowe lamented the loss of the “archetypal Australian man”, the gruff, assertive figure who ... «The Guardian, Jul 15»
3
4Knots Festival at Hudson River Park Was a Breeze
Lead animal Gruff Rhys donned an over-sized, red Power Rangers helmet early on, holding up signs with words like “Applause” and “Apeshit” ... «New York Observer, Jul 15»
4
Doyle McManus: Sanders' message will leave imprint
Bernie Sanders is on a roll. The independent socialist from Vermont, still not a registered Democrat, is drawing big crowds with his gruff ... «Omaha World-Herald, Jul 15»
5
The Plan to Pedestrianize Central Milan
But having said that, in a country with standards of urban beauty as absurdly high as Italy, central Milan can still come across as a little gruff and ... «CityLab, Jul 15»
6
Michigan State athletic success has tattoo parlors humming with …
... head (is popular) and the other one they get is the gruff Sparty,'' Meredith said, referring to the ever-popular cartoonish Spartan head logo. «MLive.com, Jul 15»
7
Eight takeaways from the Nike Peach Jam tournament
It would have been easy for Bennett to have been terse or gruff, especially since the man had limited basketball knowledge and no idea he was ... «Yahoo Canada Sports, Jul 15»
8
Meet the pensioners next door: 'I don't let them know I am lonely'
No, I said, using that gruff tone reserved for Bulletins From The Real World. Waste of time, mate. We live in a terraced house. In a cul-de-sac. «The Guardian, Jul 15»
9
HUFFPOST HILL - Taylor Swift To Entertain Teenage Girls, Lobbyists
Manu Raju and Burgess Everett: "Bernie Sanders' Senate colleagues have come to know him as a bit player in the Democratic Caucus, a gruff, ... «Huffington Post, Jul 15»
10
Characters of 'South Pacific' come alive at Ivoryton Playhouse
Billis is often played as a buffoon, but Selby — tall, gangly, and gruff-voiced - plays him as a con man with almost alarming energy. At the same ... «Middletown Press, Jul 15»
REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Gruff [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/gruff>. May 2024 ».
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