Harsh \Harsh\ (h[aum]rsh), a. [Compar. Harsher
(h[aum]rsh"[~e]r); superl. Harshest.] [OE. harsk; akin to
G. harsch, Dan. harsk rancid, Sw. h[aum]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.
[1913 Webster]
2. Unpleasant and repulsive to the sensibilities; austere;
crabbed; morose; abusive; abusive; severe; rough.
[1913 Webster]
Clarence is so harsh, so blunt. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Though harsh the precept, yet the preacher charmed.
--Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Painting, Drawing, etc.) Having violent contrasts of
color, or of light and shade; lacking in harmony.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
harsh
adj 1: unpleasantly stern; "wild and harsh country full of hot sand
and cactus"; "the nomad life is rough and hazardous"
[syn: 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: extremely unkind or cruel; "had harsh words"; "a harsh and
unlovable old tyrant"
4: severe; "a harsh penalty"
5: used of circumstances (especially weather) that cause
suffering; "brutal weather"; "northern winters can be
cruel"; "a cruel world"; "a harsh climate"; "a rigorous
climate"; "unkind winters" [syn: brutal, cruel, rigorous,
unkind]
6: sharply disagreeable; rigorous; "the harsh facts of court
delays"; "an abrasive character" [syn: abrasive]
WordNet (r) 2.0
333 Moby Thesaurus words for "harsh":
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
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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