Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US teen campus) disgusting.

[1788		Sheffield Register 9 Feb. 4/1: O’Shannon. Col. Rushlight, six foot three and a half has carried off Mrs muffin [...] what the p[eople mistook for a sister of the Polish dwarf. Ambo. Gross, gross; ’twont pass].
1900		‘Terms Peculiar to West Point’ Howitzer 120: GROSS.–Awkward, clumsy, stupid.
1905		‘West Point Sl.’ in Howitzer (US Milit. Academy) 292–5: Gross – Asinine; wooden; stupid.
1928		J. March Wild Party 16: His eyes were pouched. His hair was rumpled [...] He was gross.
1959		L.P. Boone ‘Gator Sl.’ AS XXXIV:2 155: Great, the greatest, gross, the most, neat, and tremendous are either complimentary or derogatory, depending upon how they are said.
1964		E. Shrake But Not For Love 45: [H]is legs hairless and grossly thin.
1970		(con. 1950s) H. Junker ‘The Fifties’ in Eisen Age of Rock 2 (1970) 102: She would certainly be turned off if he were [...] gross.
1977		C. McFadden Serial 16: Joan [...] had told him that she had ‘never heard anything so gross in my whole life, practically’.
1981		(con. 1966) Conroy Lords of Discipline 230: You’re so gross, Pig.
1990		T. Winton Human Torpedo 65: The walls were pink, and the bed was round and pink like a powder puff. ‘Is that gross or is that gross?’ she asked.
1999		Eble Campus Sl. Apr. 3: grossy – disgusting, unattractive.
1999		Guardian G2 7 July 8: You think he’s great, but your teenager thinks he’s gross.
2000		P. Temple Dead Point (2008) [ebook] He’s on the net perving at this bondage porn. Extreme bondage [...] How gross is that?
2004		C. Carr Single Black Female 111: And I know you’re going to think this is so gross, but the other day [etc.].
2011		Observer Mag. 30 Jan. 21/2: That’s gross, right?
2023		J. Jackson Pineapple Street 66: Cord [...] grabbed one of the big, gross calamari pieces with all the frilly legs.