harsh
adjective
- unpleasantly rough, severe or cruel
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈhɑːʃ/ / [ˈhɑːʃ] / /ˈhäːʃ/
adj
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.
- Unpleasantly rough to the touch or other senses.
- Severe or cruel.
“harsh decision”
“harsh penalty”
name
Etymology: From the German surname, Americanized from Harsch, from the adjective harsch.
- A surname.
verb
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.
- To negatively criticize.
“Quit harshing me already, I said that I was sorry!”
“Stop harshing on yourself. Who said you're the ugly sister?”
- To put a damper on (a mood).
“Dude, you're harshing my buzz.”
“They're always harshing on the plan, but we're still going through with it.”