gross

[grohs]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gross ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, gross·er, gross·est.

without deductions; total, as the amount of sales, salary, profit, etc., before taking deductions for expenses, taxes, or the like (opposed to net²): gross earnings; gross sales.

unqualified; complete; rank: a gross scoundrel.

flagrant and extreme: gross injustice.

indelicate, indecent, obscene, or vulgar: gross remarks.

lacking in refinement, good manners, education, etc.; unrefined.

large, big, or bulky.

extremely or excessively fat.

thick; dense; heavy: gross vegetation.

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.

noun, plural gross for 11, gross·es for 12, 13.

a group of 12 dozen, or 144, things. Abbreviation: gro.

total income from sales, salary, etc., before any deductions (opposed to net²def 5).

Obsolete. the main body, bulk, or mass.

verb (used with object)

to have, make, or earn as a total before any deductions, as of taxes, expenses, etc.: The company grossed over three million dollars last year.

Verb Phrases

gross out, Slang.

to disgust or offend, especially by crude language or behavior.
to shock or horrify.

Origin of gross

1350–1400; Middle English < Old French gros large (as noun, grosse twelve dozen) < Late Latin gross(us) thick, coarse

Related formsgross·ly, adverbgross·ness, nounout·gross, verb (used with object)o·ver·gross, adjectiveo·ver·gross·ly, adverbo·ver·gross·ness, nounun·gross, adjective

Synonyms for gross

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gross ON THESAURUS.COM

3. shameful, outrageous, heinous, grievous. See flagrant. 4. low, animal, sensual, broad. 6. massive, great.

Antonyms for gross

4. decent. 6. delicate, small.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for grossness

coarseness, dirtiness, indecency, curse, impurity, indelicacy, abomination, evil, foulness, bawdiness, licentiousness, affront, blight, lewdness, atrocity, filthiness, impropriety, blueness, immodesty, outrageousness

Examples from the Web for grossness

Contemporary Examples of grossness

While the rioting was obviously the low point of the week, it was more a continuation on a theme of grossness than a wild outlier.
U.S. Open of Surfing Turns Into Riot
Mark Lukach
July 31, 2013
Robert Kennedy hated Johnson's grossness, his lies, his bullying of staff, his self-indulgence with whisky and food.
David's Bookclub: Mutual Contempt
David Frum
April 28, 2013

Historical Examples of grossness

This man was evil, not with the grossness of a debauchee but with the thinness of the devotee.
Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer
Cyrus Townsend Brady
I might have known that one of your kind could not rise above the grossness in you.
Tess of the Storm Country
Grace Miller White
It was all in the other quarter that, after a lull, the grossness broke out.
The Turn of the Screw
Henry James
The grossness of his comedies rivalled that of Wycherley himself.
History of the English People, Volume VI (of 8)
John Richard Green
All the grossness, superstition, and bad taste of the age were put into them.
Folkways
William Graham Sumner

British Dictionary definitions for grossness

gross

adjective

repellently or excessively fat or bulky

with no deductions for expenses, tax, etc; totalgross sales; gross income Compare net 2 (def. 1)

(of personal qualities, tastes, etc) conspicuously coarse or vulgar

obviously or exceptionally culpable or wrong; flagrantgross inefficiency

lacking in perception, sensitivity, or discriminationgross judgments

(esp of vegetation) dense; thick; luxuriant

obsolete coarse in texture or quality

rare rude; uneducated; ignorant

interjection slang

an exclamation indicating disgust

noun

plural gross a unit of quantity equal to 12 dozen

plural grosses

the entire amount
the great majority

verb (tr)

to earn as total revenue, before deductions for expenses, tax, etc

Word Origin for gross

C14: from Old French gros large, from Late Latin grossus thick

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for grossness

"size," early 15c., from gross + -ness.

gross

adj.

mid-14c., "large;" early 15c., "coarse, plain, simple," from Old French gros "big, thick, fat, tall, pregnant; coarse, rude, awkward; ominous, important; arrogant" (11c.), from Late Latin grossus "thick, coarse (of food or mind)," of obscure origin, not in classical Latin. Said to be unrelated to Latin crassus, which meant the same thing, or to German gross "large," but said by Klein to be cognate with Old Irish bres, Middle Irish bras "big." Its meaning forked in English to "glaring, flagrant, monstrous" (1580s) on the one hand and "entire, total, whole" (early 15c.) on the other. Meaning "disgusting" is first recorded 1958 in U.S. student slang, from earlier use as an intensifier of unpleasant things (gross stupidity, etc.). Earlier "coarse in behavior or manners" (1530s) and, of things, "inferior, common" (late 15c.). Gross national product first recorded 1947.

gross

"a dozen dozen," early 15c., from Old French grosse douzaine "large dozen;" see gross (adj.). Earlier as the name of a measure of weight equal to one-eighth of a dram (early 15c.). Sense of "total profit" (opposed to net) is from 1520s.

gross

"to earn a total of," 1884, from gross (n.). Related: Grossed; grossing.

grossness in Medicine

Gross

[grōs]Samuel David 1805-1884

American surgeon and educator who wrote widely influential medical treatises, including A System of Surgery (1859).

grossness in Culture

gross

Exclusive of deductions, prior to taxation, as in gross income. (Compare net.) Total, aggregate, as in gross domestic product.