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
-
brusque and surly and forbidding
"crusty remarks"
"a crusty old man"
"his curmudgeonly temper"
"gruff manner"
"a gruff reply"
- ill humored - ill humoured