Gross Meaning
/ɡɹəʊs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjHighly or conspicuously offensive.
adjremarkably great, big, vast in an often unpleasant way; (of behaviour) Highly or conspicuously offensive.
Sentence Examples
The gross national product of our country is the second largest.
You must be more careful to avoid making a gross mistake.
The company reported a significant increase in its gross revenue.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old garbage emitted a ____ odor that made everyone feel sick.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The company reported a significant increase in its ____ profits over the last fiscal year, exceeding all targets.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English gros (“large, thick, full-bodied; coarse, unrefined, simple”), from Old French gros, from Latin grossus (“big, fat, thick”, in Late Latin also “coarse, rough”), of uncertain further origin but perhaps related to Proto-Celtic *brassos (“great, violent”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Henry IV. My gracious uncle, let me know my fault: / On what condition stands it and wherein? / Edmund of Langley. Even in condition of the worst degree, / In gross rebellion and detested treason:"
— 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
"Your very faults, how gross soere, to me / Have something pleasing in ’em."
— 1682, Aphra Behn, “The City-Heiress”, in et al., London: D. Brown, act IV, scene 1, page 40:
"[…] I thank Heaven I have had Time to reflect on my past Life, where though I cannot charge myself with any gross Villainy, yet I can discern Follies and Vices too sufficient to repent and to be ashamed of;"
— 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 10, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XVIII, page 336:
"[H]ad his actions been what Wickham represented them, so gross a violation of every thing right could hardly have been concealed from the world; […]"
— 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
"[H]e has been found guilty, on the clearest evidence, first, of stealing a valuable motor-car; secondly, of driving to the public danger; and, thirdly, of gross impertinence to the rural police."
— 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, chapter 6, in The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old garbage emitted a ____ odor that made everyone feel sick.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The company reported a significant increase in its ____ profits over the last fiscal year, exceeding all targets.