Dictionary.com

harsh

[ hahrsh ]
/ hɑrʃ /
See synonyms for: harsh / harsher / harshest / harshly on Thesaurus.com

adjective

QUIZZES

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In our third teacher-created PSAT practice test there are new and unique vocabulary terms you may have never heard of! Can you guess what they mean?
Question 1 of 10
seclusion
a false belief or opinion.
the matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid.
the state of being isolated, kept apart, or withdrawn into solitude.
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Origin of harsh

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English harsk; cognate with German harsch,Danish harsk “rancid”

synonym study for harsh

2. See stern1.

OTHER WORDS FROM harsh

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Words related to harsh

hard, grim, severe, rigid, sharp, bitter, strident, bleak, stringent, tough, unkind, rude, ruthless, cruel, brutal, relentless, unpleasant, punitive, stern, coarse

Example sentences from the Web for harsh

British Dictionary definitions for harsh

harsh
/ (hɑːʃ) /

adjective

rough or grating to the senses
stern, severe, or cruel

verb

(tr) slang to cause (a state of elation) to be diminished or ended (esp in the phrases harsh someone's mellow and harsh someone's buzz)

Derived forms of harsh

harshly, adverbharshness, noun

Word Origin for harsh

C16: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Middle Low German harsch, Norwegian harsk rancid
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012