Gross - Background

The word gross has more than one meaning, some of which are still used commonly today, and some of which aren't -

1 - Unattractively fat or bloated.

"I feel fat, gross—even my legs feel flabby"

2 - Very rude or coarse; vulgar.

A gross, slap-and-tickle version of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’"

3 - Produce or earn (an amount of money) as gross profit or income.

 

When looking at Google Ngram, I found that 'Gross' was used at its peak in 1958 used frequently at 0.003% compared with 0.0025% in 1800. Gross is now used 0.0020130974% from 2000 onwards. The word has decreased massively as it has grown old-fashioned. I believe from personal experience that the word 'gross' is still commonly used when describing income, but is less commonly used to describe something as rude or vulgar. The word is considered old-fashioned, and newer words are now more commonly used to express this meaning, such as 'vile'. The word gross to describe somebody who is fat, I would say, is even more uncommon, as personally, I have never heard the word used in that particular context in modern day speaking.