Meanings
comparative more gravelly · superlative most gravelly · alternative gravely
- Full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles.
2 more examples
The dung which men make […] is greatly miſlyked, for that by nature it is hoter and burneth the ſeedes ſowne in that earth: ſo that this is not to bee uſed, unleſſe the ground be a barren, grauelly or verie louſe ſand, lacking ſtrength in it, which being on ſuche wiſe, requyreth the more helpe of nouriſhment and fatning, through this kinde of dung: […]
1577, Dydymus Mountaine [pseudonym; Thomas Hill], Henry Dethicke [i.e., Henry Dethick], “Of the Kindes of Dung, and which Well Commended for the Dunging of Gardens”, in The Gardeners Labyrinth: […], London: […] Henry Bynneman, →OCLC, page 19This earth, however, is not to be ſuppoſed entirely pure, but is mixed with much ſtony and gravelly matter, from the layers lying immediately beneath it. It generally happens, that the ſoil is fertile in proportion to the quantity that this putrified mold bears to the gravelly mixture; and as the former predominates, ſo far is the vegetation upon it more luxuriant.
1791, Oliver Goldsmith, “Of the Internal Structure of the Earth”, in An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], new edition, volume I, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], →OCLC, page 49Synonyms: gravelish, gravelous · Antonyms: ungravelly
- Of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping.
[…] currently incarcerated Stinc Team members Ketchy the Great, SaySoTheMac, and Bambino; the devilish and gravelly Almighty Suspect; red-clad Inglewooder and headband connoisseur FreeAckrite; baby-faced Martin Luther King Park loiterer Johnny Rose; […]
2019 February 5, Torii MacAdams, “The New Generation of LA Rap Is Changing Everything”, in VICE
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveFull of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveunpleasantly harsh or grating in sound
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gʰreh₁w-“to grind”
- Old Frenchgravel
- Middle Englishgravelli“covered with gravel or sand; (pathology) containing sand-like matter”
- Englishgravelly
From Middle English gravelli (“covered with gravel or sand; (pathology) containing sand-like matter”), from gravel (“sand; grain of stand; gravel, pebbles; (pathology) sand-like matter in the urine, calculus”) + -lī (suffix forming adjectives). Gravel is derived from Old French gravel, gravele, gravelle (“gravel; (pathology) calculus”) (modern French gravelle (“(pathology) calculus”)), from grave (“coarse sand, gravel; seashore”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁w- (“to grind”); modern French grève (“riverbank; shore, strand”)) + -ele (diminutive suffix). The English word is analysable as gravel + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic خَشِن
- خَشِن (ḵašin)of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping
Bulgarian чакълест, дрезгав
- чакълест (čakălest)full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles
- дрезгав (drezgav)of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping
Finnish sorainen
- sorainenfull of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles
French graveleux, râpeux
- graveleuxfull of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles
- râpeuxof a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping
- rocailleuxof a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping
German kieselig, kiesig
- kieseligfull of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles
- kiesigfull of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles
- harschof a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping
Hungarian kavicsos
- kavicsosfull of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles
Italian breccioso, ghiaioso
- brecciosofull of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles
- ghiaiosofull of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles
- ghiarosofull of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles
Japanese 塩っぱい
- 塩っぱい (shoppai)of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping
Latin glāreōsus, sabulōsus
- glāreōsusfull of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles
- sabulōsusfull of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles
Spanish cascajoso, áspero
- cascajosofull of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles
- ásperoof a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping
- rasposoof a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping
Cite this entry
gravelly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gravelly
“gravelly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gravelly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gravelly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gravelly.
Source: gravelly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.