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• s  brusque and surly and forbidding
  gruff manner
  a gruff reply
• s  deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion
  gruff voices
  the dog's gruff barking

• Though he could manage a sort of gruff amiability with strangers, his was, in fact, a withdrawn, suspicious and, above all, controlling nature.
• Or as Joshua Painter, the gruff-but-charming rear admiral in The Hunt for Red October.
• Racing Stripes, 2005As the gruff voice of a gruff-voiced horse, Thompson showed a darker side.

• crusty
• curmudgeonly
• ill-humored
• ill-humoured
• hoarse
• husky

News & Articles

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• 'Cheers' stars reunite
  George Wendt is going to a place where everybody knows his name -- because most of them have worked with him before. Wendt, who played gruff but amusing barfly on " Cheers ," is reuniting with his former costars Kirstie Alley and Rhea Perlman via a guest-starring spot on the upcoming TV Land series "Kirstie."
  June 15, 2013 - NBC NEWS
• Live chat: Join a live chat with Jeff Daniels from 'The Newsroom' now
  Now, more than ever, it might be time to follow up with gruff cable newscaster Will McAvoy on why America is the greatest country in the world, right? Join us Thursday for a live chat with "The Newsroom's" Jeff Daniels, who portrays the cantankerous TV personality in the HBO drama, at 1 p.m. Pacific time -- and maybe he can channel Will in trying to address that. Or not. Daniels, whose all ...
  June 13, 2013 - Los Angeles Times
• 'The Newsroom': Join a live chat with Jeff Daniels on Thursday
  Now, more than ever, it might be time to follow up with gruff cable newscaster Will McAvoy on why America is the greatest country in the world, right?
  June 12, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Quotes

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• Shirley Jones in International Herald Tribune
  To me, he was the consummate leading man. He was tall, he was handsome, he was sensitive, he was gruff when he had to be. He was a great cowboy, he was perfect for those historical roles,Jones said. "He could do everything, and there...
• Pat Roberts in Houston Chronicle
  Under this great gruff facade - ie, the mad penguin - here is a passionate, caring, wise and, yes, a man with a very good sense of humor which I have enjoyed immensely,Roberts said.
• President Bush in New York Times
  Beneath that rough and gruff, no-nonsense demeanor is a good human being who cares deeply about the military and deeply about the grief that war causes,Mr. Bush said.