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
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Economics
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 2
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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:
Dolls billings dipped 5%, with Barbie gross billings falling 16%.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Soitec reported a gross margin of 16.3% for the fiscal year that closed at the end of March.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The French budget deficit is set to reach 5.4% of gross domestic product this year, significantly higher than any other member of the European Union and above the bloc’s 3% limit.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
Budget deficits close to 10% of gross domestic product have pushed Brazil’s central bank to maintain high interest rates.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
These earmuffs have saved me from screechy subway brakes, piercing flutes, gross Noah sounds, trick or treat yells, wishy-washy Deb, and mean Kiki.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
A little-heralded German from relegated Ingolstadt, nobody could have anticipated the impact Gross, nor Albion, would go on to have.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Brighton midfielder Pascal Gross may be one of the best value-for-money signings in Premier League history.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
That’s true, but as Samantha Gross of the Brookings Institution has commented, those refineries are already running at close to capacity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Gross oil supply lost nearly 3 billion barrels of oil, or roughly half the crude and refined products that would normally have moved through Hormuz over the same period, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Gross stuff can probably pass through a tissue like air through a screen door.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
That way it would earn a healthy profit even if it grosses less than “Fast X.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2025
I worked a very early shift at Sony Pictures, pumping out film grosses seven days a week, and he managed a co-owned restaurant in Hollywood with a shift closing late at night.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2025
Ticket sales from large format screens, including IMAX, made up about 40% of the opening weekend grosses.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2024
Box office grosses are down, too: Broadway shows have grossed $1.2 billion so far this season, 14 percent below the level in early March of 2020.
From New York Times ● Mar. 12, 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
In fact, some of the best sunsets appear in the winter, when a damp wind can broom away the grosser air.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 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
Probably the grossest, coolest thing I ever saw in my whole life.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
They noted that the studio’s “Scary Movie” grossed more than $230 million , one of Paramount’s top three box office hits, this year against a budget of roughly $30 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
She says she grossed $300,000 last year and netted $90,000.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
It grossed $270 million worldwide on a $38 million budget.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
At the time, he was the first person who wrote about her in a way that didn’t make me feel grossed out.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
Some girls would be grossed out talking about bugs during lunch, but not Betsy.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
It is now Sony Picture's highest-ever grossing film, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
California and its co-plaintiffs said “anticipated top grossing theatrical films” aim to earn at least $100 million and have higher marketing budgets and involve well-known writers, directors or actors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Disney’s live-action remake of “Moana” flopped at the box office, grossing an estimated $95 million globally against a $250 million production cost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Disney’s live-action “Mufasa: The Lion King” opened in 2024 to a middling $35 million, but ended up grossing more than $722 million globally through the holiday season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 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
Definitions 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.
