gruff

3 definitions • 3 examples

(of a person's voice) low and unfriendly, or (of a person's behaviour) unfriendly or showing no patience:

"Yeah, so what?" came the gruff reply.

He's quite a sweet man beneath the gruff exterior.

dealing with people in a way that lacks patience and seems unfriendly:

He has that gruff exterior, but underneath he’s very kind.

If a person’s voice is gruff, it sounds low and slightly damaged.