harsh
Americanadjective
-
ungentle and unpleasant in action or effect.
harsh treatment; harsh manners.
-
grim or unpleasantly severe; stern; cruel; austere.
a harsh life; a harsh master.
- Synonyms:
- bad-tempered, acrimonious, brutal, unkind, unfeeling, hard, brusque
-
physically uncomfortable; desolate; stark.
a harsh land.
- Synonyms:
- rough
-
unpleasant to the ear; grating; strident.
a harsh voice; a harsh sound.
- Synonyms:
- unharmonious, dissonant, discordant
-
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.
adjective
-
rough or grating to the senses
-
stern, severe, or cruel
verb
Synonym Usage
See stern 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
harshnessnoun
-
overharshnessnoun
-
overharshadjective
-
unharshadjective
-
harshlyadverb
-
overharshlyadverb
-
unharshlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of harsh
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English harsk; cognate with German harsch, Danish harsk “rancid”
Explanation
Harsh means severe or strict, particularly when referring to punishment. It would be a harsh punishment if you got grounded for two weeks just for coming home a little late for dinner. There are many shades of meaning for the word harsh depending on its context, but all imply that something is more unpleasant than it needs to be. Harsh lighting hurts your eyes. A harsh disciplinarian gives out punishments that are too severe. Whereas constructive criticism is usually helpful, a harsh critique will only make you upset. The harsh reality of the world today is that millions of people are starving while others have too much.
Vocabulary lists containing harsh
Negative Words to Describe a Person
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Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 4
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Oh, No! Synonyms for "Bad"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Backrooms began with a single unsettling image posted anonymously online: a claustrophobic warren of tawdrily yellow, windowless rooms with aged carpets and harsh overhead fluorescent lights.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
“Regret becomes unproductive when it turns into repetitive rumination, harsh self-judgment or the belief that the past has permanently determined the future,” she says.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
It comes days after Anthea Hartig, historian and director of the National Museum of American History, testified before a US House subcommittee and faced harsh criticism from Republican lawmakers.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
But if county analysts are correct, those good feelings will be tested in the harsh cutbacks to come over the next three years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Surprisingly, the fungal growths were surviving in that harsh environment.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
The market has reached a harsher verdict: These businesses are shrinking and don’t know how to stop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Australian victim Bianca Jones' parents criticised the Laos authorities for not pursuing harsher charges.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
In its statement on Saturday, the government acknowledged some of these challenges, and said the harsher penalties were evidence that it was "doubling down on platforms that are not doing enough".
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
But Spielberg wonders: Why must we adapt to harsher conditions if the answer is right in front of us, and all we have to do to thrive is open our eyes?
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
My voice comes out harsher than I intended.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
The prosecutor general said Kozyura had agreed to share information "constituting state secrets" for financial reward and deserved the harshest punishment.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Sharda Devi, 55, a settler's daughter, recalls the first arrivals "toiling in some of the harshest conditions" to carve plantations out of the tangled forests.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
“There is no biological reason. The vacuum of space is the harshest environment you can possibly imagine to keep humans alive in.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Even so, Perry remains her own harshest critic.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
That memory stirs my harshest feelings toward Mr. Loomis.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
