harsh

[ hahrsh ]

/ hɑrʃ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR harsh ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

ungentle and unpleasant in action or effect: harsh treatment; harsh manners.

grim or unpleasantly severe; stern; cruel; austere: a harsh life; a harsh master.

physically uncomfortable; desolate; stark: a harsh land.

unpleasant to the ear; grating; strident: a harsh voice; a harsh sound.

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.

Nearby words

harrow, harrowing, harrumph, harry, harry potter, harsh, harshen, harslet, harstad, hart, hart's-tongue

Origin of harsh

1250–1300; Middle English harsk; cognate with German harsch, Danish harsk rancid

SYNONYMS FOR harsh

2 brusque, hard, unfeeling, unkind, brutal, acrimonious, bad-tempered. See stern¹.

3 rough.

4 discordant, dissonant, unharmonious.

6 unesthetic.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR harsh ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

harsh·ly, adverbharsh·ness, nouno·ver·harsh, adjectiveo·ver·harsh·ly, adverb

o·ver·harsh·ness, nounun·harsh, adjectiveun·harsh·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for harshest

In the interview, Ponomarev reserved some of his harshest words for Katrina vanden Heuvel, the editor and publisher of The Nation.
The Bolshevik Who Thinks ‘The Nation’ Is Too Left Wing|Eli Lake|October 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is people like the al Wakeel family who pay the harshest price for this military duel.
Israel’s Campaign to Send Gaza Back to the Stone Age|Jesse Rosenfeld|July 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His harshest words of criticism were aimed at those who were prideful.
June, The Month When Pride Isn’t a Sin|Gene Robinson|June 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Even the harshest of U.S. and world sanctions have not brought major adversaries to their knees.
Les Gelb Puts Russia in Its Place—and Critics in Theirs|Leslie H. Gelb|April 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The harshest and most sweeping dismissal of Paul comes not from the left but from the right.
Rand Paul is Politically Divergent. And So He Must Be Stopped.|Nick Gillespie|March 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is one of Fate's harshest rules that in one way or another we pay for our ecstasies.
The Disturbing Charm|Berta Ruck
Out of it there came the harshest sounds that had ever been heard on the farm.
The Tale of Turkey Proudfoot|Arthur Scott Bailey
In judging his fellow-men this is Shakespeare's harshest word.
The Man Shakespeare|Frank Harris
Bitterest, harshest, most envenomed of all is the outcry and hunt directed against the otter.
The Open Air|Richard Jefferies
He put his harshest blame upon those who wickedly misled the children of the Father.
The Bible and Life|Edwin Holt Hughes

British Dictionary definitions for harshest

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

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