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

harrowing, harrowingly, harrumph, harry, harry potter, harsh, harshen, harshly, harshness, harslet, harstad

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 harshness

Simply stated, the harshness of the elements conspires to help, rather than hinder, the lucky few.
How to Hitchhike a Plane—and Survive|Kent Sepkowitz|April 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“This is not a future of harshness but of bespoke details,” production designer K.K. Barrett recently explained.
How ‘Her’ Gets the Future Right|Andrew Romano|December 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But did he expect the harshness of the criticism from the like of Fox News?
Dad: Why I Let My 18-Month-Old Daughter Play With Gorillas|Tom Sykes|September 24, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The bullet fee well symbolizes the harshness of a brutal police state that cloaks itself in the trappings of religion.
Where Iran's Regime Learned Its Tricks|Scott Horton|June 26, 2009|DAILY BEAST

Across the lowland it drifted to me, losing all harshness in its coming, and falling in pleasing cadences upon the air.
A Maid of the Kentucky Hills|Edwin Carlile Litsey
He tried to peer deep into his daughter for a moment, his inflamed face relaxing neither in its harshness nor its doubt of her.
Children of the Whirlwind|Leroy Scott
In cases, as for instance the ancient Lycians, the men were treated with harshness and abuse.
Folkways|William Graham Sumner
Have you come like all the rest to upbraid me for my harshness—to cry out his virtues to me?
The Idol of The Blind|Tom Gallon
At low water this digue is visible, and remains a memorial of the cruelty and harshness of the tyrant priest who ruled France.
Barn and the Pyrenees|Louisa Stuart Costello

British Dictionary definitions for harshness

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 Formsharshly, 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

Word Origin and History for harshness (1 of 2)

harshness

late 14c., from harsh + -ness.

Word Origin and History for harshness (1 of 2)

harsh

adj.

originally of texture, "hairy," 1530s, probably from harske "rough, coarse, sour" (c.1300), a northern word of Scandinavian origin (cf. Danish and Norwegian harsk "rancid, rank"), related to Middle Low German harsch "rough, raw," German harst "a rake;" perhaps from PIE root *kars- "to scrape, scratch, rub, card" (cf. Lithuanian karsiu "to comb," Old Church Slavonic krasta, Russian korosta "to itch," Latin carduus "thistle," Sanskrit kasati "rubs, scratches"). Meaning "offensive to feelings" is from 1570s; "disagreeable, rude" from 1610s.

harsh

adjective

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Origin of harsh

Examples from the Web for harshness

British Dictionary definitions for harshness

harsh

adjective

verb

Word Origin for harsh

Word Origin and History for harshness (1 of 2)

harshness

Word Origin and History for harshness (1 of 2)

harsh