gross
adjective
without deductions; total, as the amount of sales, salary, profit, etc., before taking deductions for expenses, taxes, or the like (opposed to net).
gross
1 American
[grohs]
/ groʊs /
adjective
-
grosser,
comparative
-
grossest
superlative
-
without deductions; total, as the amount of sales, salary, profit, etc., before taking deductions for expenses, taxes, or the like (opposed to net).
gross earnings;
gross sales.
-
a gross scoundrel.
-
flagrant and extreme.
gross injustice.
- Synonyms:
- grievous, heinous, outrageous, absolute, downright
-
indelicate, indecent, obscene, or vulgar.
gross remarks.
- Antonyms:
- decent
-
lacking in refinement, good manners, education, etc.; unrefined.
-
large, big, or bulky.
- Antonyms:
- small, diminutive
-
extremely or excessively fat.
-
of or concerning only the broadest or most general considerations, aspects, etc.
-
Slang. extremely objectionable, offensive, or disgusting.
He wore an outfit that was absolutely gross.
-
gross vegetation;
gross fog;
gross vapors.
noun
-
gross,
plural
-
grosses
plural
-
a group of 12 dozen, or 144, things. gro.
-
total income from sales, salary, etc., before any deductions (opposed to net).
-
Obsolete. the main body, bulk, or mass.
verb (used with object)
-
grosses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
grossed,
past participle, past
-
grossing
present participle
verb phrase
Gross
2
American
[grohs]
/ groʊs /
noun
gross
British
/ ɡrəʊs /
adjective
-
repellently or excessively fat or bulky
-
with no deductions for expenses, tax, etc; total Compare net 2
gross sales
gross income
-
(of personal qualities, tastes, etc) conspicuously coarse or vulgar
-
obviously or exceptionally culpable or wrong; flagrant
gross inefficiency
-
lacking in perception, sensitivity, or discrimination
gross judgments
-
(esp of vegetation) dense; thick; luxuriant
-
obsolete coarse in texture or quality
-
rare rude; uneducated; ignorant
interjection
noun
-
a unit of quantity equal to 12 dozen
-
-
the entire amount
-
the great majority
-
verb
gross
Cultural
Usage
What’s the difference between gross and net? In the context of finance and accounting, gross refers to the total amount before any deductions, while net refers to the final amount that remains after deductions have been made. Of course, gross and net are common words with many other meanings, but these senses of gross and net are used in the context of measuring something (especially money) that has been accumulated—profit, income, earnings, gains, etc. The amount described or referred to as gross is everything that has been taken in, not accounting for things like debts, deductions, and expenses. The amount described or referred to as net is how much you have left after you’ve subtracted anything that doesn’t count toward profit, like debts and expenses. In other words, net is basically gross minus whatever you owe or have spent. For this reason, net is always lower than gross. For example, let’s say you decide to sell cupcakes at a bake sale. You spend $15 on ingredients, and you have to rent a table for $5, which equals $20 in expenses. Good news, you make $50 in cupcake sales. Your gross is $50. Minus the $20 in expenses, your net is $30. You could say you grossed $50 and netted $30. To remember the difference, remember that a net sifts whatever goes into it so that only some remains. Here’s an example of gross and net used correctly in the same sentence. Example: For this quarter, gross income was $2 million, but $1. 25 million in expenses and outstanding debts resulted in a net of only $750,000. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between gross and net.
Synonym Usage
See flagrant.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
grossnessnoun
-
overgrossnessnoun
-
outgrossverb (used with object)
-
overgrossadjective
-
ungrossadjective
-
grosslyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
grosssimple
-
grossessimple
-
have grossedperfect
-
has grossedperfect
-
am grossingprogressive
-
are grossingprogressive
-
is grossingprogressive
-
have been grossingperfect progressive
-
has been grossingperfect progressive
Past
-
grossedsimple
-
had grossedperfect
-
was grossingprogressive
-
were grossingprogressive
-
had been grossingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gross
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French gros “large” (as noun, grosse “twelve dozen”), from Late Latin gross(us) “thick, coarse”
Explanation
Get ready, because gross has a few different meanings. When something is gross, it's disgusting. The noun, a gross, is the complete amount (before expenses), and the verb "to gross" is to bring in money. Two things will tell you which meaning is the right one with a word like gross: the part of speech and the context. If you're talking about awful, sickening, vile things, you're looking at the adjective gross. If you're referring to, say, how much money a movie made, that's the noun gross; but remember, the gross is how much the movie made in total, not how much it cleared in profit after expenses (the net). As a noun, gross can also be a unit of measurement: if your teacher orders a gross of pencils, he'll get a shipment of 12 dozen. The verb to gross means to pull in money, as in: the bake sale grossed 30 dollar.
Vocabulary lists containing gross
More Negative Words to Describe a Person
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Economics
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 2
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Medicare has a two-year lookback period, so your modified adjusted gross income at age 63 matters when it comes to your annual premiums.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
He said the trust "being compelled to admit gross neglect" was the hardest thing.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
And maybe more importantly, while it’s kind of gross, it’s certainly legal, and as you said, the ballot clearly names the incumbent.
From Slate ● Oct. 31, 2026
They’re deductible above 7.5% of adjusted gross income—a high threshold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Sip from that bubbling vat of gross blue liquid?
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
Gross domestic product, the official government scorecard, expanded at an inflation-adjusted 3.4% annual pace in the third quarter, the government said, above expectations of 3.1% growth.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
Gross domestic product expanded 1.0% in July-September from the previous quarter, following 0.6% growth in April-June, preliminary Bank of Korea data showed Tuesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
"Audiences love this movie, but it needs a very long run to recoup its costs, or an over-performance overseas, and neither appears likely," said Gross.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026
An own goal from Brighton's Pascal Gross swiftly followed by a goal from Alexander Isak, sees Liverpool beat the Seagulls 2-0 at Anfield to move into the Premier League top four.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
But a taste for luxury goods did not stop Gross, an accountant, from scoffing as David paid thirty dollars for a box of Godiva chocolates for his wife.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
He said he typically grosses $140 to $150 a day, minus about $30 of gas for his Ford Focus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
His six-location theater chain’s revenue projections for January and February were tracking ahead of 2024’s weak theatrical grosses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025
Ticket sales from large format screens, including IMAX, made up about 40% of the opening weekend grosses.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2024
“Barbie” charmed viewers at the box office with grosses of $1.4 billion worldwide, became one of last year’s inescapable cultural touchstones and scored eight Oscar nominations.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
The thought of the false teeth currently chillin’ in their purple glitter container inside G’ma’s purse almost grosses Scoob out as much as the oysters.
From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone
It was a movie, the biggest Hollywood grosser of the year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
In a world where it seems everything seems grosser and scammier all the time, we should be glad that there’s at least one star who is doing well by selling positivity.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2025
Tom Cruise always has the answer, though: the top grosser of the day was Top Gun: Maverick, which added about $6 million to its box office haul.
From The Verge ● Sep. 5, 2022
The theatrical exclusive “West Side Story” is the second-highest domestic grosser of the nominees with only $37 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2022
Others were more recent and a lot grosser.
From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
Even though Coleman sometimes showcases customers’ grossest problems, he’s never heard from a client who was unhappy with a post.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Judge Patrick Lynch KC told the former teacher that he had violated the trust placed in him "in the grossest manner".
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
His book, "Selective Breeding and the Birth of Philosophy," has become an Amazon bestseller because he's promoted by the grossest people on the internet.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2023
HBO Max just launched its rebrand in just about the grossest way possible, Sam Adams writes.
From Slate ● May 25, 2023
Then you’d see her performing surgery on the turkey, which was always the grossest thing in the world, shoving her hand up its butt and pulling out all the slime.
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
That number was aided by the massive box office reception for Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” which has grossed nearly $1.8 billion worldwide.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
She says she grossed $300,000 last year and netted $90,000.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
His three-year-long Mathematics Tour grossed $857.7 million, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, and his Divide Tour netted $776.4 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
The film grossed more than $9 million and Trump screened it approvingly at Mar-a-Lago.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
“So, before taxes, my percentage, and expenses, you grossed out at just over eight.”
From "Lawn Boy" by Gary Paulsen
The band’s ongoing “M72” tour is hovering around the 10 highest grossing tours ever.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
AI images are popping up everywhere in food ads—and are grossing people out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
The film holds the title of the second-highest grossing film ever, after earning $2.8 billion, driven by an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin and Scarlett Johansson.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
Industry watcher Sensor Tower’s grossing data has shown a year-over-year growth uptick since June, reflecting solid momentum from evergreen titles such as “Fantasy Westward Journey” and “Eggy Party,” he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
I figured she was grossing me out as revenge for not eating her chicken dinner.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
