harsh

[ hahrsh ]

/ hɑrʃ /

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See synonyms for: harsh / harsher / harshest / harshly 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.

OTHER WORDS FOR harsh

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

3 rough.

4 discordant, dissonant, unharmonious.

6 unesthetic.

See synonyms for harsh on Thesaurus.com

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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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

harshly, adverbharshness, 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. 2023

How to use harsh in a sentence

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
Ludlow's criticism, even when it was harshest, was incentive and inspiration; and her life was blank and dull on the old terms.
The Coast of Bohemia|William Dean Howells
It had evolved out of a cataclysmic past, but it could not meet the challenge of the harshest environment.
Student Body|Floyd L. Wallace
Perhaps the harshest assault on provincial sentiment had been made in summer, when during August Liberty Tree was felled.
The Siege of Boston|Allen French
Being in a circle of her best friends, which to her meant her keenest rivals and harshest critics, she grew rigid with anger.
A Girl Of The Limberlost|Gene Stratton Porter
One of the harshest conditions of the conquest of Persia had been at all times a tax called “Jazia.”
Les Parsis|D. Menant

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

harsh

OTHER WORDS FOR harsh

Origin of harsh

synonym study for harsh

OTHER WORDS FROM harsh

Words related to harsh

How to use harsh in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for harsh

Derived forms of harsh

Word Origin for harsh