Harsh

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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