Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use gruff in a sentence

14 example sentences · adjective, verb

Gruff means having a rough, surly, and harsh demeanor and nature. Example: “The kitten cosied up to the gruff old hound, and all resistance disappeared.”

Examples of gruff by meaning

adjectiveHoarse-voiced.

  • a gruff woman

adjectiveHoarse.

  • a gruff voice

verbTo speak gruffly.

  • “It was a gift, from some people who really want me to be on this trip.” “Fine,” he gruffed.2001, Benny Hinn, He Touched Me: An Autobiography

More sentences with gruff

  • The kitten cosied up to the gruff old hound, and all resistance disappeared.From the entry cosy up to
  • The team grew fond of their gruff, curmudgeonous supervisor and feted him with a party upon his retirement.From the entry curmudgeonous
  • 'Howaya,' she said in her gruffest voice as she passed by.2010, Colette Caddle, The Secrets We Keep, page 361. From the entry howaya
  • He was gruff and loud and unafraid of the aberrationally tall young men who were his livelihood.2009, Jonathan Schwartz, All in Good Time: A Memoir, page 115. From the entry aberrationally
  • 'This is how we do it in Lisbon,' he warns with gruff Portuguese annunciation.2008 March 23, Jaimie Hodgson, “When kuduro came to town”, in The Observer, →ISSN. From the entry muso
  • He is a gruff, white-bearded man, very Uzbek in his skull-cap and long grey coat.1999, Andrew Dowling, “Uzbekistan”, in The Godless Pilgrim, London: Fusion Press, →ISBN, part two (Central), page 116. From the entry Uzbek
  • His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed.1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter 1, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1953, →ISBN. From the entry fractiousness
  • Desvarieux, who was gruff and smoky; Mr.2007 August 2, Jon Pareles, “A Wide Range of Sounds, From Antillean to Zouk”, in New York Times. From the entry biguine
  • There was nothing civil or gentle about him, and even in talking to President Chiang, he sounded gruff and blunt.1983, James C. H. Shen, “Rejoining the Government”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally…. From the entry discourteous
  • "First the Patrons wipe-out our home world, now you blow any chance of us making any credits," Kane said in his gruff sinking voice.2016, A.K. Brown, Jumpstart (Champagne Universe Series: Book 1), page 19. From the entry homeworld
  • He was a sad gruff little man; but he had a valiseful of medicines, and he impressed her with his air of science, and she liked him.2011, Glenway Wescott, Apartment in Athens. From the entry valiseful

Meaning of gruff

  1. adjective Having a rough, surly, and harsh demeanor and nature.
  2. adjective Hoarse-voiced.
  3. adjective Hoarse.

Full definition of gruff

Questions about gruff in a sentence

How do you use gruff in a sentence?
Gruff is used as an adjective and verb. For example: “The kitten cosied up to the gruff old hound, and all resistance disappeared.”
What is a short sentence with gruff?
“a gruff voice”
What does gruff mean?
Gruff means having a rough, surly, and harsh demeanor and nature.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gruff (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use gruff in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/gruff. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.