GRUFFNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does gruffness mean? 

• GRUFFNESS (noun)
  The noun GRUFFNESS has 2 senses:

1. a throaty harshness

2. an abrupt discourteous manner

  Familiarity information: GRUFFNESS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GRUFFNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A throaty harshness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

gruffness; hoarseness; huskiness

Hypernyms ("gruffness" is a kind of...):

harshness; roughness (the quality of being harsh or rough or grating to the senses)

Derivation:

gruff (deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An abrupt discourteous manner

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

abruptness; brusqueness; curtness; gruffness; shortness

Hypernyms ("gruffness" is a kind of...):

discourtesy; rudeness (a manner that is rude and insulting)

Derivation:

gruff (brusque and surly and forbidding)

 Context examples 

It was in vain to take refuge in gruffness of speech.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"You've got to pull yourself together," he said with soothing gruffness.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)