harsh

[hahrsh]

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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.

Origin of harsh

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

Related formsharsh·ly, adverbharsh·ness, nouno·ver·harsh, adjectiveo·ver·harsh·ly, adverbo·ver·harsh·ness, nounun·harsh, adjectiveun·harsh·ly, adverb

Synonyms for harsh

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2. brusque, hard, unfeeling, unkind, brutal, acrimonious, bad-tempered. See stern¹. 3. rough. 4. discordant, dissonant, unharmonious. 6. unesthetic.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for harshness

cruelty, brutality, anger, tyranny, acerbity, sternness

Examples from the Web for harshness

Contemporary Examples of 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
“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
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
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

Historical Examples of harshness

I did not know, I said, that I had given occasion for this harshness.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
He is accused of harshness to boys that were placed under his care.
The Letters of Robert Burns
Robert Burns
And Edward Newbury in particular was thought to have behaved with harshness.
The Coryston Family
Mrs. Humphry Ward
But Fyles remained unmoved, except that the harshness had gone out of his manner.
The Law-Breakers
Ridgwell Cullum
There was a note of harshness in the voice that answered him.
The Snare
Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for harshness

harsh

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

late 14c., from harsh + -ness.

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.