English Explanatory Dictionary

harsh

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Unpleasantly rough to the touch or other senses.
  2. Severe or cruel.
verb
  1. To negatively criticize.
  2. To put a damper on (a mood).
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/hɑɹʃ/ /hɑːʃ/ /hæʃ/ En-au-harsh.ogg

Word forms

harsh harsher more harsh harshest most harsh harshes harshing harshed

Etymology

From Middle English harsk, harisk(e), hask(e), herris. Century derived the term from Old Norse harskr (whence Danish harsk (“rancid”), dialectal Norwegian hersk, Swedish härsk, Swedish härsken); the Middle English Dictionary derives it from that and Middle Low German harsch (“rough”, literally “hairy”) (whence also German harsch), from haer (“hair”), from Old Saxon hār, from Proto-West Germanic *hār; the Oxford Dictionary of English derives it from Middle Low German alone.

Synonyms

coarse scabrous abrasive asperous gimped harsh irregular jagged jaggy rough rugged rugose salebrous scraggy shagged squarrose uneven unsmooth callous severe brutal cold cold-eyed cruel dour flint-hearted forbidding frosty grim hard hard-boiled hardened hardhearted heartless humorless icy iron-hearted insensate insensitive marble-hearted rigorous rockhearted stern stonehearted stony stonyhearted strict tough unsympathetic unmoved

Antonyms

easy genteel

Derived words

harshen harshish harshly harsh mistress harshness harsh noise overharsh unharsh harsh down harsh one's mellow
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