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
-
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 )
Related Words
See stern 1.
Other Word Forms
- harshly adverb
- harshness noun
- overharsh adjective
- overharshly adverb
- overharshness noun
- unharsh adjective
- unharshly adverb
Etymology
Origin of harsh
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English harsk; cognate with German harsch, Danish harsk “rancid”
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.
Ramsey's story is one of youthful innocence shaped by harsh experience; beauty forged in pain.
From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026
"The end of a strike, seasonal quirks and a rebound after harsh winter weather likely boosted job growth in some sectors," she said.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
“Eternal Life” sprang out of her in one burst, celebrating the power of love to transcend life’s harsh realities.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
Targeted therapies have already reshaped cancer care by directing drugs straight to tumors, helping reduce damage to healthy cells and easing harsh side effects linked to chemotherapy.
From Science Daily • Apr. 2, 2026
The principal’s right that ReelTok is pretty harsh in his videos about the swastikas.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
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.