harsh
Americanadjective
-
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
Related Words
See stern 1.
Other Word Forms
- harshly adverb
- harshness noun
- overharsh adjective
- overharshly adverb
- overharshness noun
- unharsh adjective
- unharshly adverb
Etymology
Origin of harsh
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English harsk; cognate with German harsch, Danish harsk “rancid”
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.
There was even harsher critique from Baz Bamigboye in Deadline, describing it as "beyond seriously unfunny" and lamenting that he didn't laugh once.
From BBC
That kind of lighting setup can create harsh shadows.
The movies of the 1930s also resonated with audiences by speaking to the harsh times people were living through, either directly or indirectly.
The “Bachelorette” debacle is a harsh baptism for the new leadership at Disney—Chief Executive Josh D’Amaro and President and Chief Creative Officer Dana Walden.
Four spent their military service stationed near the heavily fortified inter-Korean border, known for barbed wire, harsh winters and intense training.
From Barron's
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.
