Noun: gruffness grúf-nus
- A throaty harshness
"His gruffness after the concert showed how much he had strained his voice";
- hoarseness, huskiness, throatiness
- An abrupt discourteous manner
"his antagonistic gruffness";
- abruptness, brusqueness, curtness, shortness
Type of: discourtesy, harshness, roughness, rudeness