harsh

[ hahrsh ]

/ hɑrʃ /

SEE 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.

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 SYNONYMS FOR harsh ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM harsh

harsh·ly, adverb harsh·ness, noun o·ver·harsh, adjective o·ver·harsh·ly, adverb

o·ver·harsh·ness, noun un·harsh, adjective un·harsh·ly, adverb

Words nearby harsh

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

Example sentences from the Web for harshly

Kids are safer when those who risk their safety are quickly, harshly, publicly and clearly punished.

Is the Pope Finally Getting Serious About The Church’s Sex Scandals? |Barbie Latza Nadeau |September 25, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
He admits that his men kidnapped, harshly interrogated, and then killed her.

‘We Killed Sushmita Banerjee’ Says Renegade Taliban Militia |Sami Yousafzai, Ron Moreau |September 14, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
It was harshly repressed during the American surge, but it was never really defeated.

Al Qaeda Is Back |Bruce Riedel |July 26, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
The activists there—numbering about 55 or 60 by nine in the evening yesterday—were harshly critical of Obama.

Obama's Presence Shields Palestinian "Anti-Settlement," For Now |Ali Gharib |March 21, 2013 |DAILY BEAST

By viewing Zionism as racism, many Palestinians saw Israelis harshly as cruel brutes.

Delegitimizing Israel Makes Peace Harder to Achieve |Gil Troy |February 28, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
"I see the smoke comin' up over this way, an' I thought there was the devil to pay," he said harshly.

Country Neighbors |Alice Brown
"I called you an atheist," returned the missionary, harshly.

The Rainbow Trail |Zane Grey
No, you will feel for the weakness of nature; you will not judge me harshly.

Godolphin, Complete |Edward Bulwer-Lytton
If childhood were less cruel, or at least not harshly insensible, it might share these womanly cares.

The Insect |Jules Michelet
The passenger who was nobody in particular laughed low and harshly.

Heart of the West |O. Henry

British Dictionary definitions for harshly

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, adverb harshness, noun

Word Origin for harsh

C16: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Middle Low German harsch, Norwegian harsk rancid

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

harsh

adjective

Origin of harsh

SYNONYMS FOR harsh

OTHER WORDS FROM harsh

Words nearby harsh

Example sentences from the Web for harshly

British Dictionary definitions for harshly

adjective

verb

Derived forms of harsh

Word Origin for harsh

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

harsh

adjective

Origin of harsh

SYNONYMS FOR harsh

OTHER WORDS FROM harsh

Words nearby harsh

Words related to harshly

Example sentences from the Web for harshly

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for harshly

adjective

verb

Derived forms of harsh

Word Origin for harsh

British Dictionary definitions for harshly