What does gross mean?
Word: Gross
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Gross means very nasty or disgusting to look at, smell or taste. Children often say yucky for the same thing.
Synonyms: disgusting, nasty, yucky
Antonyms: lovely
How do you spell gross?
Syllables: gross
Tricky part: Gross ends with two of the same letter, even though you hear only one s sound at the end.
Watch out for: grose, grosse, groce
Memory tip: When something is gross, you pull a face and hiss sss through your teeth. That hiss is the double s at the end.
Gross in a sentence
Example 1: Leaving wet socks in your school bag for a week is gross.
Example 2: The dustbin smelt gross after three hot days.
Example 3: My brother thinks slimy snails are gross, but I like them.
Fun Fact
A gross is also an old counting word for 144 things, which is twelve dozen. Shopkeepers once ordered pencils and buttons by the gross.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
gross
a) revolting
b) pleasant
c) filthy
d) rotten
Show answer
b) pleasant. Pleasant means nice to see, smell or taste; revolting, filthy and rotten all lean the same way as gross.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) horrible
b) groass
c) disgusting
d) rubbish
Show answer
b) groass. Gross has a plain o in the middle, with no a after it.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
sogrs
a) rogss
b) rgoss
c) gorss
d) gross
Show answer
d) gross. Begin with the gr you hear in green, then work out where the other three letters go.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The rotten eggs smelt so gross that we opend all the windows.
a) windows
b) gross
c) opend
d) rotten
Show answer
c) opend. Opened keeps the e of open before ed; gross is spelt right here.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which reaction fits something gross?
a) wrinkling your nose in disgust
b) yawning and closing your eyes
c) clapping and cheering loudly
d) smiling and asking for more
Show answer
a) wrinkling your nose in disgust
2. What would most people call gross?
a) a warm cup of milk
b) a fresh bunch of roses
c) mouldy bread in a lunch box
d) a clean white towel
Show answer
c) mouldy bread in a lunch box
