What does grossness mean?
Grossness is a noun naming the quality of being disgusting, tasteless, vulgar, indecent, or otherwise offensive. It is used especially when describing language, humor, behavior, artistic choices, advertising, or social customs that strike a speaker or writer as crude or morally objectionable. The word commonly conveys not merely unpleasantness but a sense of shameless exaggeration or tasteless excess, as in “the sheer grossness of the joke.” In everyday British and American English, grossness is usually uncountable and strongly evaluative, though it can be countable in more formal or analytical contexts. Historically, the word is built from the adjective gross and the suffix -ness, with gross itself continuing an older Latin word for “thick” or “coarse.” Its modern sense developed from the idea of something coarse or vulgar into a forceful term for open offensiveness. The word is especially memorable because it turns a broad judgment of tastelessness into a concentrated noun.
nounThe quality of being disgusting, tasteless, vulgar, or offensive. It can also refer to the state of being conspicuously excessive or unpleasant in a physical or moral sense.
- The quality of being disgusting, tasteless, vulgar, or offensive.
"The sheer grossness of the advertisement made it impossible to ignore."
"The sheer grossness of the performance left the audience stunned."
"The campaign was criticized for the grossness of its racial stereotypes."
The plural is grammatically possible but rare; the uncountable form is far more common.
"The film was dismissed as one of the most outrageous grossnesses of the decade."
From Latin grossus, meaning “thick” or “coarse,” grossness grew into English's sharpest noun for vulgar disgust.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does grossness come from?
The word was formed in English from gross by adding the suffix -ness. Gross came into Middle English from Latin grossus, whose basic meanings included “thick” and “coarse”; over time, the English adjective came to mean disgusting or offensive. Related forms such as grossly preserve the same Latin inheritance, while the noun grossness developed as a name for the quality of being gross.
How grossness is actually used
The word is strongly disapproving and is usually informal or rhetorical. In British and American English, it is most often used for moral, social, or physical qualities perceived as vulgar or revolting; it is generally uncountable.
Easily confused with grossness
Gross is the adjective meaning unappealing, vulgar, or offensive, whereas grossness is the noun naming that quality.