harsh
Americanadjective
-
harsher,
comparative
-
harshest
superlative
-
ungentle and unpleasant in action or effect.
harsh treatment; harsh manners.
-
grim or unpleasantly severe; stern; cruel; austere.
a harsh life; a harsh master.
- Synonyms:
- bad-tempered, acrimonious, brutal, unkind, unfeeling, hard, brusque
-
physically uncomfortable; desolate; stark.
a harsh land.
- Synonyms:
- rough
-
unpleasant to the ear; grating; strident.
a harsh voice; a harsh sound.
- Synonyms:
- unharmonious, dissonant, discordant
-
unpleasantly rough, ragged, or coarse to the touch.
a harsh surface.
-
jarring to the eye or to the esthetic sense; unrefined; crude; raw.
harsh colors.
-
unpleasant to the taste or sense of smell; bitter; acrid.
a harsh flavor; a harsh odor.
adjective
-
rough or grating to the senses
-
stern, severe, or cruel
verb
Synonym Usage
See stern 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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harshnessnoun
-
overharshnessnoun
-
overharshadjective
-
unharshadjective
-
harshlyadverb
-
overharshlyadverb
-
unharshlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of harsh
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English harsk; cognate with German harsch, Danish harsk “rancid”
Explanation
Harsh means severe or strict, particularly when referring to punishment. It would be a harsh punishment if you got grounded for two weeks just for coming home a little late for dinner. There are many shades of meaning for the word harsh depending on its context, but all imply that something is more unpleasant than it needs to be. Harsh lighting hurts your eyes. A harsh disciplinarian gives out punishments that are too severe. Whereas constructive criticism is usually helpful, a harsh critique will only make you upset. The harsh reality of the world today is that millions of people are starving while others have too much.
Vocabulary lists containing harsh
Negative Words to Describe a Person
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Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 4
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Oh, No! Synonyms for "Bad"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
After all, an emergency fund exists to prevent you from having to make a harsh decision at an inconvenient time.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
Yet Huth said that harsh approach was appropriate for a young player trying to establish himself.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
The first demonstrations will evaluate systems designed to survive the lunar night and other harsh conditions, including periods spent in shadow for multiple days.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
It levies harsh penalties for surpassing certain player salary thresholds, adding extensive roster-building restrictions to straightforward fines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
To him, slavery, in all its harsh brutality, was a fact of life.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
In the wake of PC Harper's death, Lissie Harper campaigned for harsher sentences for the manslaughter of emergency workers on duty.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Australian victim Bianca Jones' parents criticised the Laos authorities for not pursuing harsher charges.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute said harsher prison conditions are a reflection of the pain Israelis felt after Oct.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
The sentences handed down in the case were widely panned as extreme, considering the actual actions of the defendants and their lack of the sort of criminal records that would typically result in harsher sentencing.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
As Blackmon notes: “The apparent demise...of leasing prisoners seemed a harbinger of a new day. But the harsher reality of the South was that the new post-Civil War neoslavery was evolving—not disappearing.”
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
They formed an essential part of the survival strategies that enabled people to live in some of the harshest environments on Earth.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
Many try to keep cool by covering their heads, drinking salted water or adjusting work hours to avoid the harshest afternoon sun - but such measures offer only limited relief.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
“There is no biological reason. The vacuum of space is the harshest environment you can possibly imagine to keep humans alive in.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Even so, Perry remains her own harshest critic.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
Charles felt that if he could explain the evolution of the eye, he could convince even the harshest skeptic that he was right.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
