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Wordnet 3.0

ADJECTIVE (2)

1. brusque and surly and forbidding;
- Example: "crusty remarks"
- Example: "a crusty old man"
- Example: "his curmudgeonly temper"
- Example: "gruff manner"
- Example: "a gruff reply"
[syn: crusty, curmudgeonly, gruff, ill-humored, ill-humoured]

2. deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion;
- Example: "gruff voices"
- Example: "the dog's gruff barking"
- Example: "hoarse cries"
- Example: "makes all the instruments sound powerful but husky"- Virgil Thomson
[syn: gruff, hoarse, husky]



The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Gruff \Gruff\ (gr[u^]f), a. [Compar. Gruffer (gr[u^]f"[~e]r);
   superl. Gruffest.] [D. grof; akin to G. grob, OHG. gerob,
   grob, Dan. grov, Sw. grof, perh. akin to AS. rc['o]fan to
   break, Z. reavc, rupture, g- standing for the AS. prefix ge-,
   Goth. ga-.]
   Of a rough or stern manner, voice, or countenance; sour;
   surly; severe; harsh. --Addison.
   [1913 Webster]

         Gruff, disagreeable, sarcastic remarks.  --Thackeray.
   -- Gruff"ly, adv. -- Gruff"ness, n.
   [1913 Webster]


WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

gruff
    adj 1: brusque and surly and forbidding; "crusty remarks"; "a
           crusty old man"; "his curmudgeonly temper"; "gruff
           manner"; "a gruff reply" [syn: crusty, curmudgeonly,
           gruff, ill-humored, ill-humoured]
    2: deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or
       emotion; "gruff voices"; "the dog's gruff barking"; "hoarse
       cries"; "makes all the instruments sound powerful but husky"-
       Virgil Thomson [syn: gruff, hoarse, husky]