grossly
adverb
Simple meaning
Greatly; to a large degree.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
grohsleeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡɹoʊsli
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adverb
Greatly; to a large degree, especially one large enough to be frankly appreciable.
informal
In a gross (disgusting) manner; without delicacy.
“The contractor grossly underestimated the cost of repairing the roof.”
To a serious, severe, or offensive degree.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Greatly; to a large degree, especially one large enough to be frankly appreciable.
Used this way, grossly is a reasonably familiar word that can pull warm or cold depending on the sentence. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It sounds natural in ordinary conversation and in expressive writing alike.
- Emotional tone
- Mixed
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Direct, sometimes tactless
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Usage note
The same wording can read approvingly or critically, so the surrounding sentence has to make the intent clear.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.