From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgruffgruff /ɡrʌf/ adjective FRIENDLYspeaking in a rough unfriendly voice His manner can be rather gruff. a gruff reply His voice became gruff. —gruffly adverb —gruffness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
gruff• And when he wept he was not gruff.• He was kind of gruff and all.• Dad can be gruff and impatient at times.• He muttered gruff compliments and showed his student how to prepare a palette.• He was an irritable old man, who seldom spoke except to say a gruff hello.• He alarmed us as children: he had a gruff manner, a game leg and a pronounced cast in one eye.• He stared up at the gruff old man who was so kind to him.• You listen to his gruff voice giving orders to his crew as they row him out to his ketch.• "If this happens again, '' said Dad, in a gruff voice, "I shall be extremely angry!''Origin gruff (1400-1500) Dutch grof 