Associations to the word «Gruff»

Wiktionary

GRUFF, adjective. Having a rough, surly, and harsh demeanor and nature.
GRUFF, adjective. Hoarse-voiced.
GRUFF, verb. To speak gruffly.

Dictionary definition

GRUFF, adjective. Brusque and surly and forbidding; "crusty remarks"; "a crusty old man"; "his curmudgeonly temper"; "gruff manner"; "a gruff reply".
GRUFF, adjective. 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.

Wise words

Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the manner in which the principles of generation are used is free and infinitely varied. Even the interpretation and use of words involves a process of free creation.
Noam Chomsky