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
My voice was soft but my tone harsh, and the boy slunk away as if he’d done something wrong.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
Before former President Joe Biden named Khan to lead the FTC in 2021, she was best known for a law review article arguing for harsher enforcement of antitrust laws against companies like Amazon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Australian victim Bianca Jones' parents criticised the Laos authorities for not pursuing harsher charges.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 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
In its statement on Saturday, the government acknowledged some of these challenges, and said the harsher penalties were evidence that it was "doubling down on platforms that are not doing enough".
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
“Stop staring,” I hiss at Sophie, harsher than I mean to.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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
More than half of France's regions are currently under the harshest weather warning, with hundreds of schools ordered to close and highs of 42C hitting Bordeaux on Monday, forecaster Météo-France said.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
They are each other’s first readers and, occasionally, harshest critics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 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
Some life-forms on earth can survive a long time under the harshest conditions: animal eggs hatch after many years and plant seeds sprout after centuries.
From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins
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.
