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PlainSpell

gross

/ɡɹoʊs/adjective, noun, verb

gross is spelled G-R-O-S-S: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,288th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, gross means “remarkably great, big, vast in an often unpleasant way; (of behaviour) Highly or conspicuously offensive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in gross?

Letters5: G-R-O-S-S
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing28 times per million words; the 3,288th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is gross?

Gross appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,288th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce gross?

  • UK /ɡɹəʊs/
  • US /ɡɹoʊs/
  • /ɡɹɔs/

Gross has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-gross.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with gross?

9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as gross from its last stressed vowel (/oʊs/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of gross

  • grosser comparative
  • more gross comparative
  • grossest superlative
  • most gross superlative
  • grosses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • grossing participle, present
  • grossed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does gross mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    remarkably great, big, vast in an often unpleasant way; (of behaviour) Highly or conspicuously offensive.

    a gross mistake; gross injustice; gross negligence; a gross insult

  2. 2

    Excluding any deductions; including all associated amounts.

    gross domestic product; gross income; gross weight

  3. 3

    Seen without a microscope (usually for a tissue or an organ); at a large scale; not detailed.

    gross anatomy

  4. 4

    AustraliaCanadaUSinformalCausing disgust.

    I threw up all over the bed. It was totally gross.

  5. 5

    Lacking refinement in behaviour or manner; offending a standard of morality.

  6. 6

    Lacking refinement; not of high quality.

  7. 7

    Dense, heavy.

  8. 8

    Heavy in proportion to one's height; having a lot of excess flesh.

noun

  1. 1

    Twelve dozen = 144.

    We need to order three gross of torx screws for next week.

  2. 2

    The total amount (of goods, money, etc) before taxes, expenses, exceptions, tares, or similar deductions are subtracted.

  3. 3

    The bulk; the mass.

verb

  1. 1

    To earn money, not including expenses.

    The movie grossed three million on the first weekend.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Gross in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germangrob (conspicuously offensive), brutto, Brutto- (including all associated amounts), ekelhaft, Ekel erregend (causing disgust), Gros (twelve dozen)
Frenchbrut (including all associated amounts), dégoûtant, dégueulasse (causing disgust), grossier, grossière (lacking refinement in manner; offending morality), gros (having excess flesh)
Portuguesebruto (including all associated amounts), grosa (twelve dozen)
Spanishrepulsivo, asqueroso, hecho un asco (causing disgust), gruesa (twelve dozen), grosero (lacking refinement in manner; offending morality), bruto (total earnings or amount)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does gross come from?

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”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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