harsh

[hahrsh]
adjective
1.
ungentle and unpleasant in action or effect: harsh treatment; harsh manners.
2.
grim or unpleasantly severe; stern; cruel; austere: a harsh life; a harsh master.
3.
physically uncomfortable; desolate; stark: a harsh land.
4.
unpleasant to the ear; grating; strident: a harsh voice; a harsh sound.
5.
unpleasantly rough, ragged, or coarse to the touch: a harsh surface.
6.
jarring to the eye or to the esthetic sense; unrefined; crude; raw: harsh colors.
7.
unpleasant to the taste or sense of smell; bitter; acrid: a harsh flavor; a harsh odor.
Relevant Questions

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

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


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 Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To harshly
00:10
Harshly is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
Collins
World English Dictionary
harsh (hɑːʃ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  rough or grating to the senses
2.  stern, severe, or cruel
 
vb
3.  slang (tr) to cause (a state of elation) to be diminished or ended (esp in the phrases harsh someone's mellow and harsh someone's buzz)
 
[C16: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Middle Low German harsch, Norwegian harsk rancid]
 
'harshly
 
adv
 
'harshness
 
n

harsh (hɑːʃ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  rough or grating to the senses
2.  stern, severe, or cruel
 
vb
3.  slang (tr) to cause (a state of elation) to be diminished or ended (esp in the phrases harsh someone's mellow and harsh someone's buzz)
 
[C16: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Middle Low German harsch, Norwegian harsk rancid]
 
'harshly
 
adv
 
'harshness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

harsh
originally of texture, "hairy," 1533, probably from harske "rough, coarse, sour" (c.1300), a northern word of Scand. origin (cf. Dan. and Norw. harsk "rancid, rank"), related to M.L.G. harsch "rough, raw," probably from PIE base *qars- "to scrape, scratch, rub" (cf. Lith. karsiu "to comb," O.C.S. krasta,
Rus. korosta "to itch," L. carduus "thistle," Skt. kasati "rubs, scratches").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

harsh definition


  1. mod.
    bad; rude. : She's a harsh lady and doesn't care how you feel.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences
Harshly lit patches straddled pockets of deep shade.
Hyacinth macaws screamed harshly as they flew across the river.
Set limits on their behavior and discipline them calmly, not harshly.
It had to be dealt with swiftly and harshly, but you can also overdo things.
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