How to Use gruff in a Sentence

gruff

adjective

• He spoke in a gruff voice.
• Don't be fooled by his gruff manner—he's really very kind.
• The flat-six fires with a gruff growl, then settles to a breathy idle.
  — Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 18 Mar. 2021
• Terry came across as gruff and crass on the phone that day.
  — Jessica Lucas, Rolling Stone, 2 May 2023
• Morris Levy, the head of Roulette Records and a gruff street guy, loved Latin jazz.
  — Marc Myers, WSJ, 1 June 2021
• To many who watched from afar, Dole could seem gruff and angry.
  — David Gergen, CNN, 6 Dec. 2021
• However, the lines are long and the service can be gruff.
  — Liza B. Zimmerman, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2022
• But maybe that hasn’t happened—and your boss’s gruff, blunt style is getting to you.
  — TIME, 18 Oct. 2023
• Manno isn’t much of a talker, but in God’s Village his gruff words are the law.
  — Jason Motlagh, Rolling Stone, 26 Nov. 2023
• Thoughts of the young girl’s plight could even drive a gruff London cabbie to tears, Akehi added.
  — Ben Croll, Variety, 24 Mar. 2023
• Cavanaugh is an old-school coach who can appear a bit gruff.
  — Michelle Gardner, The Arizona Republic, 27 June 2022
• The last Dolphins coach, Brian Flores, was gruff and hard nosed.
  — Ben Volin, BostonGlobe.com, 30 July 2022
• Ben Chaplin haunts the margins of the show as Frank Mundi, a gruff detective with a heart of gold.
  — Darren Franich, EW.com, 8 Apr. 2021
• The gruff rapping dude is an alien who gets teleported.
  — Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 15 Aug. 2023
• Brosnan speaks with an accent that’s a fusion of his own silvery brogue and a gruff drawl.
  — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 13 Oct. 2023
• Among their gruff voices, the grunts of a large, black hog — a Red Wattle cross — could be heard from a nearby trailer.
  — New York Times, 7 Mar. 2022
• Dressed in a dark suit, gray shirt and dark tie, Blackwell spoke in a low, gruff voice with a measured delivery.
  — Bruce Vielmetti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 26 Apr. 2022
• And for some reason, this Willis has a different voice—a gruff bark that speaks Russian.
  — Steven Levy, WIRED, 7 Oct. 2022
• One person can even be seeing playing the drums on a makeshift stage while Jon Bon Jovi’s gruff voice blasts from the speakers.
  — Christi Carrasstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2022
• All our gruff camera dudes and gaffers and grips and electrics, everyone was crying.
  — Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 May 2023
• The town has a market that sells preserves and wooden bowls made by a gruff, bearded craftsman.
  — Tess Taylor, Harper's Magazine, 22 June 2021
• The scrappy ragtag team, the gruff but kind coach, the against-the-odds triumph — sports dramas rarely veer far from a basic template.
  — Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Dec. 2023
• His body was covered in sweat, his voice was gruff, and thousands of people in the room went from boisterous to silent, sideswiped by DMX’s gospel.
  — New York Times, 9 Apr. 2021
• Sheriff’s deputies rushed into the bus, and Tyler complained about their gruff handling of students.
  — Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2023
• Their gruff protector dads each see them and love them as their kids — nothing more, nothing less.
  — Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2023
• Pedro Pascal stars as Joel, one of video games’ most beloved gruff father figures.
  — Vulture, 3 Dec. 2022
• Ernest Hemingway, born in the last year of the 19th century, seemed to embody the kind of gruff masculinity that John Wayne would’ve looked up to.
  — Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 10 June 2021
• The fact that Siegfried, played by Samuel West, is still grieving his late wife adds a touch of poignancy to matters, too; most of the show’s gruff or spiky characters have a soft side.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 16 Aug. 2021
• Schreiber’s gruff, salt-of-the-earth Flynn lacks a threatening underside, like a rock without worms squirming beneath.
  — Naveen Kumar, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024
• Neill balances the fine line between gruff and cruel, a symbol of a thousand baby boomer stereotypes without seeming derivative.
  — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2024

Last Updated: 5 Sep 2024