Adjacent Words

Harsh definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

H`ARSH, a.
1. Rough to the touch; rugged; grating; as harsh sand; harsh cloth; opposed to smooth.
2. Sour; rough to the taste; as harsh fruit.
3. Rough to the ear; grating; discordant; jarring; as a harsh sound; harsh notes; a harsh voice.
4. Austere; crabbed; morose; peevish. Civilization softens the harsh temper or nature of man.
5. Rough; rude; abusive; as harsh words; a harsh reflection.
6. Rigorous; severe.
Though harsh the precept, yet the preacher charm'd.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: unpleasantly stern; "wild and harsh country full of hot sand and cactus"; "the nomad life is rough and hazardous" [syn: harsh, rough]
2: disagreeable to the senses; "the harsh cry of a blue jay"; "harsh cognac"; "the harsh white light makes you screw up your eyes"; "harsh irritating smoke filled the hallway"
3: of textures that are rough to the touch or substances consisting of relatively large particles; "coarse meal"; "coarse sand"; "a coarse weave" [syn: coarse, harsh] [ant: fine]
4: unkind or cruel or uncivil; "had harsh words"; "a harsh and unlovable old tyrant"; "a rough answer" [syn: harsh, rough]
5: severe; "a harsh penalty"
6: sharply disagreeable; rigorous; "the harsh facts of court delays"; "an abrasive character" [syn: harsh, abrasive]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English harsk, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian harsk harsh Date: 14th century 1. having a coarse uneven surface that is rough or unpleasant to the touch 2. a. causing a disagreeable or painful sensory reaction ; irritating b. physically discomforting ; painful 3. unduly exacting ; severe 4. lacking in aesthetic appeal or refinement ; crude Synonyms: see rough • harshly adverb • harshness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 unpleasantly rough or sharp, esp. to the senses. 2 severe, cruel. Derivatives: harshen v.tr. & intr. harshly adv. harshness n. Etymology: MLG harsch rough, lit. 'hairy', f. haer HAIR

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Harsh Harsh (h[aum]rsh), a. [Compar. Harsher (-[~e]r); superl. Harshest.] [OE. harsk; akin to G. harsch, Dan. harsk rancid, Sw. h["a]rsk; from the same source as E. hard. See Hard, a.] 1. Rough; disagreeable; grating; esp.: (a) disagreeable to the touch. ``Harsh sand.'' --Boyle. (b) disagreeable to the taste. ``Berries harsh and crude.'' --Milton. (c) disagreeable to the ear. ``Harsh din.'' --Milton. 2. Unpleasant and repulsive to the sensibilities; austere; crabbed; morose; abusive; abusive; severe; rough. Clarence is so harsh, so blunt. --Shak. Though harsh the precept, yet the charmed. --Dryden. 3. (Painting, Drawing, etc.) Having violent contrasts of color, or of light and shade; lacking in harmony.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(harsher, harshest) 1. Harsh climates or conditions are very difficult for people, animals, and plants to live in. The weather grew harsh, chilly and unpredictable. = severe ? mild ADJ • harshness ...the harshness of their living conditions. = severity 2. Harsh actions or speech are unkind and show no understanding or sympathy. He said many harsh and unkind things about his opponents. = cruel ADJ • harshly She's been told that her husband is being harshly treated in prison... ADV: ADV with v • harshness ...treating him with great harshness. = severity N-UNCOUNT 3. Something that is harsh is so hard, bright, or rough that it seems unpleasant or harmful. Tropical colours may look rather harsh in our dull northern light. ADJ • harshness ...as the wine ages, losing its bitter harshness. N-UNCOUNT 4. Harsh voices and sounds are ones that are rough and unpleasant to listen to. It's a pity she has such a loud harsh voice. ? soft, gentle ADJ • harshly Chris laughed harshly. ADV: ADV with v • harshness Then in a tone of abrupt harshness, he added, 'Open these trunks!'. 5. If you talk about harsh realities or facts, or the harsh truth, you are emphasizing that they are true or real, although they are unpleasant and people try to avoid thinking about them. The harsh truth is that luck plays a big part in who will live or die. = bitter ADJ [emphasis]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Rough. 2. Sour, acrid, tart, crabbed, hard, biting, sharp, caustic, corrosive. 3. Grating, discordant, jarring. 4. Crabbed, morose, stern, severe, austere, acrimonious, ill-tempered, hard, ill-natured, sour, unkind, unfeeling. 5. Rude, uncivil, bluff, blunt, gruff, ungracious, churlish, bearish, brutal.

Moby Thesaurus

Doric, Draconian, Spartan, Spartanic, abrupt, absonant, abusive, acerb, acerbic, acid, acidulous, acrid, acrimonious, acute, afflictive, aggressive, agonizing, ajar, amaroidal, asperous, astringent, atonal, atrocious, austere, authoritarian, barbaric, barbarous, bearish, beastly, bilious, biting, bitter, bitter as gall, blaring, bleak, bluff, blunt, blurred, bowelless, brash, brassy, brazen, breathy, bristly, brusque, brutal, brutish, burdensome, burning, cacophonous, caustic, cavalier, choked, choking, choleric, churlish, clashing, clumsy, coarse, colliding, comfortless, conflicting, confused, corrugated, cracked, cragged, craggy, cramping, crinkled, croaking, croaky, cross, crude, cruel, crumpled, crusty, curt, cutting, demanding, diaphonic, disagreeable, discomforting, disconsonant, discordant, discourteous, disharmonic, disharmonious, dissonant, distressing, dog-eat-dog, doggerel, double-edged, dour, drawling, drawly, dry, dysphemistic, dysphonic, ear-piercing, edged, escharotic, exacting, excruciating, exhausting, exigent, fierce, flat, flinty, gnawing, graceless, granular, grating, grave, gravelly, grim, grinding, griping, gross, grouchy, gruff, guttural, hairy, hard, harrowing, harsh-sounding, hawking, heartless, heavy, hoarse, hurtful, hurting, husky, immelodious, impolite, improper, impure, in bad taste, inarticulate, incisive, inclement, inconcinnate, inconcinnous, incongruous, incorrect, indecorous, indistinct, inelegant, inexorable, infelicitous, inharmonic, inharmonious, inhuman, intemperate, irascible, ironbound, irritating, jagged, jaggy, jangling, jangly, jarring, jostling, keen, lisping, loose, low, merciless, metallic, meticulous, mispronounced, mordacious, mordant, musicless, muzzy, nasal, nasty, nonmelodious, nose-tickling, off, off-color, off-key, off-tone, onerous, oppressive, out of pitch, out of tone, out of tune, outlandish, overburdensome, painful, paroxysmal, peevish, penetrating, petulant, piercing, piquant, pitiless, poignant, pungent, punishing, punitive, quavering, racking, ragged, rasping, raucid, raucous, relentless, remorseless, rigorous, rockbound, rocky, rough, roupy, rude, rugged, rugose, rugous, rusty, ruthless, sarcastic, saw-toothed, sawtooth, scabrous, scathing, scragged, scraggly, scraggy, scraping, scratchy, serrate, serrated, severe, shaggy, shaking, shaky, sharp, shooting, short, short-tempered, shrill, snagged, snaggled, snaggy, snippy, snuffling, sour, spasmatic, spasmic, spasmodic, splenetic, squawking, squawky, squeaky, stabbing, stark, stern, stertorous, stifled, stinging, stony, strangled, strict, strident, stridulous, stringent, stubbly, sullen, surly, tangy, tart, tasteless, thick, throaty, tinny, tormenting, torturous, tough, tremulous, trenchant, truculent, tuneless, twangy, tyrannical, tyrannous, uncivil, uncompassionate, uncompassioned, uncourtly, uncouth, undignified, uneuphonious, uneven, unfeeling, unfelicitous, unforgiving, unfriendly, ungentle, ungraceful, unharmonious, unkind, unlevel, unmelodious, unmerciful, unmusical, unpitiful, unpitying, unpleasant, unpolished, unrefined, unremorseful, unseemly, unsmooth, unsparing, unsympathetic, unsympathizing, untunable, untuned, untuneful, unyielding, vehement, velar, violent, virulent, vitriolic, vulgar, warring, waspish, wearing, wearying, weighty, without mercy, wrinkled