gruffly

adverb

Definition of grufflynext
1
as in brusquely

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words
2
as in grimly

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of gruffly Rose’s relationship with her father, too, is unusual in its unresolved jaggedness, while Sisto’s gruffly on-edge performance points to a deeper well of adult pain in Wes that his daughter cannot yet manage or comprehend. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 8 June 2026 Chief among the familiar faces is Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the stoic, gruffly professional explosives-disposal expert Major Will Tranter, who shows up at a construction site in the heart of London where an unexploded, 1,000-pound WWII bomb has just been found. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 23 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gruffly
  1. brusquely
  2. grimly
  3. curtly
  4. firmly
  5. sharply
  6. strongly
  7. abruptly
  8. determinedly
Adverb
  • Léo’s tenderly nostalgic reminiscences of past love affairs are slapped down by Emma, who brusquely dismisses his pleasant recollections as mere male projection.
    — Jay Weissberg, Variety, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Yet, White House officials told me, Biden sometimes brusquely dismissed the views of both men, raising his voice as though berating children.
    — David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 20 July 2026
Definition of brusquely
Adverb
  • As the days until payment is due tick grimly by, Irwin and Hester grow increasingly fretful and angry, and their widening divisions wrench the family apart, to intimately catastrophic effect.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2026
  • In the images, the trio could be seen grimly surveying the debris, comforting each other by putting their arms around each other.
    — Lara Walsh, InStyle, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of grimly
Adverb
  • Juliette later makes a stop to see Shirley, who is still being unreasonably pouty about her amnesiac friend not remembering her — and is, again, curtly dismissive of Juliette’s search for Lukas.
    — Noel Murray, Vulture, 17 July 2026
  • But Ruben curtly responds that the only real homophobe is Niall himself.
    — Barry Levitt, Time, 29 May 2026
Definition of curtly
Adverb
  • It got scuttled by courts in Missouri and then firmly defeated by its voters Tuesday.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Brand firmly denied all the charges, based on allegations made by six women.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of firmly
Adverb
  • Heather Diehl | Getty Images The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday released a sharply critical report on the federal government's handling of investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
    — Dan Mangan, CNBC, 10 Nov. 2026
  • Oil prices have fallen sharply in recent days on hopes that the Iran conflict is fading, and gas costs are falling this month.
    — Christopher Rugaber, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of sharply
Adverb
  • In Beacon Falls, Danbury and Cromwell, developers have strongly signalled their intentions to build but haven’t filed official zoning applications.
    — Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Brand, who strongly denied wrongdoing, will be sentenced next week.
    — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of strongly
Adverb
  • But that's not the case for VA loans, since the VA abruptly ended the program.
    — Quil Lawrence, NPR, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The chief executive of California’s High Speed Rail Authority abruptly resigned amid intensifying scrutiny over cost overruns, project delays and wasteful expenses.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of abruptly
Adverb
  • Though based on the visuals of the past, his output is determinedly contemporary.
    — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Blue-collar Ho-seok (Sul), a man traumatized by losing his factory job after a workers’ strike, lives a quiet life with his determinedly optimistic wife, Mi-ok (Jeon).
    — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of determinedly

Browse Nearby Words

gruff
gruffly
gruffness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Gruffly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gruffly. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
speech-bubble-untangle
Simplify The Convoluted Expression Quiz A quiz that’s as “uncomplicated as a round de...
See All