What is another word for harsh?
Synonyms for harsh
hɑrʃharsh
This thesaurus page is about all possible synonyms, equivalent, same meaning and similar words for the term harsh.
English Synonyms and Antonyms
harsh
Acid, sour, and bitter agree in being contrasted with sweet, but the two former are sharply distinguished from the latter. Acid or sour is the taste of vinegar or lemon-juice; bitter that of quassia, quinine, or strychnine. Acrid is nearly allied to bitter. Pungent suggests the effect of pepper or snuff on the organs of taste or smell; as, a pungent odor. Caustic indicates the corroding effect of some strong chemical, as nitrate of silver. In a figurative sense, as applied to language or character, these words are very closely allied. We say a sour face, sharp words, bitter complaints, caustic wit, cutting irony, biting sarcasm, a stinging taunt, harsh judgment, a tart reply. Harsh carries the idea of intentional and severe unkindness, bitter of a severity that arises from real or supposed ill treatment. The bitter speech springs from the sore heart. Tart and sharp utterances may not proceed from an intention to wound, but merely from a wit recklessly keen; cutting, stinging, and biting speech indicates more or less of hostile intent, the latter being the more deeply malicious. The caustic utterance is meant to burn, perhaps wholesomely, as in the satire of Juvenal or Cervantes. Compare MOROSE.
Synonyms:
acerb, acetous, acid, acidulated, acidulous, acrid, acrimonious, biting, bitter, caustic, cutting, irate, pungent, savage, sharp, sour, stinging, tart, vinegarish, virulentAntonyms:
dulcet, honeyed, luscious, nectared, saccharine, sweet
Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms
Princeton's WordNet
harsh, roughadjective
unpleasantly stern
"wild and harsh country full of hot sand and cactus"; "the nomad life is rough and hazardous"
Synonyms:
bumpy, approximative, rough, raspy, jolting, pugnacious, jolty, crude, gravelly, rocky, coarse, fierce, abrasive, scratchy, jumpy, boisterous, grating, approximate, unsmooth, uncut, raspingharshadjective
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"
coarse, harshadjective
of textures that are rough to the touch or substances consisting of relatively large particles
"coarse meal"; "coarse sand"; "a coarse weave"
Synonyms:
coarse, rough-cut, vulgar, uncouth, abrasive, rough, commonharsh, roughadjective
unkind or cruel or uncivil
"had harsh words"; "a harsh and unlovable old tyrant"; "a rough answer"
Synonyms:
bumpy, approximative, rough, raspy, jolting, pugnacious, jolty, crude, gravelly, rocky, coarse, fierce, abrasive, scratchy, jumpy, boisterous, grating, approximate, unsmooth, uncut, raspingharshadjective
severe
"a harsh penalty"
harsh, abrasiveadjective
sharply disagreeable; rigorous
"the harsh facts of court delays"; "an abrasive character"
Dictionary of English Synonymes
harshadjective
Synonyms:
roughharshadjective
Synonyms:
sour, acrid, tart, crabbed, hard, biting, sharp, caustic, corrosiveharshadjective
Synonyms:
grating, discordant, jarringharshadjective
Synonyms:
crabbed, morose, stern, severe, austere, acrimonious, ill-tempered, out of humor, out of temperharshadjective
Synonyms:
rude, uncivil, bluff, blunt, gruff, ungracious, churlish, bearish, brutal
Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words
harshadjective
Synonyms:
inharmonious, rough, disagreeable, unpleasant, raucous, dissonant, strident, discordant, cacophonous, austere, morose, severe, ungracious, inurbane, discourteous, churlish, uncivil, blunt, bluff, brusque, acrimonious, caustic, acrid, repulsive
Words popularity by usage frequency
ranking | word | |
---|---|---|
#596 | hard | |
#736 | common | |
#1928 | difficult | |
#2145 | heavy | |
#2570 | acid | |
#3091 | sharp | |
#3717 | cutting | |
#3964 | severe | |
#4924 | tough | |
#5548 | rough | |
#5995 | rocky | |
#7139 | strict | |
#8049 | approximate | |
#9271 | brutal | |
#9792 | savage | |
#9920 | crude | |
#10079 | bitter | |
#11289 | cruel | |
#11437 | harsh | |
#11710 | uncut | |
#12027 | sour | |
#12142 | rugged | |
#12170 | hostile | |
#12199 | rude | |
#12588 | stiff | |
#12618 | stark | |
#13365 | abusive | |
#13774 | rigorous | |
#14475 | coarse | |
#14856 | grim | |
#15142 | fierce | |
#17445 | stringent | |
#18316 | biting | |
#21938 | tart | |
#23129 | abrasive | |
#23811 | vulgar | |
#28023 | grating | |
#30247 | dura | |
#32636 | bumpy | |
#35779 | caustic | |
#40176 | stinging | |
#43797 | virulent | |
#46950 | draconian | |
#50552 | pungent | |
#58225 | irate | |
#59577 | scratchy | |
#60245 | boisterous | |
#60813 | gruff | |
#65631 | discordant | |
#68434 | gravelly | |
#74028 | jumpy | |
#96709 | raspy | |
#96952 | acrid | |
#98549 | uncouth | |
#103017 | acrimonious | |
#133494 | pugnacious | |
#139637 | jolting | |
#147394 | rasping | |
#187998 | rancorous | |
#241914 | approximative |
How to use harsh in a sentence?
My message contained harsh language — no threats.
If a man gives you a harsh winter, give him back something unexpected: The warm spring!
No president in history has been more vilified or was more vilivied during the time he was President than Lincoln. Those who knew him, his secretaries, have written that he was deeply hurt by what was said about him and drawn about him, but on the other hand, Lincoln had the great strength of character never to display it, always able to stand tall and strong and firm no matter how harsh or unfair the criticism might be. These elements of greatness, of course, inspire us all today.
The French satirical tradition has always been very pointed and very harsh, and still is, you know, the thing that I really resent is the way in which these, our dead comrades ... who died using the same implement that I use, which is a pen or pencil, have been almost immediately vilified and called racists and I don't know what else.
We ask the international community to follow closely the situation in Burundi in order to stop the harsh reprisal against protesters, civil society activists and opposition leaders.
Translations for harsh
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- صارمArabic
- রুক্ষBengali
- criticar, sever, severa, aspreCatalan, Valencian
- hrubýCzech
- ru, grovDanish
- harsch, streng, rau, scharf, herb, unwirsch, schrill, grell, hartGerman
- σκληρόςGreek
- despotricar, duro, severo, ásperoSpanish
- زمختPersian
- rankka, tyly, julma, raakaFinnish
- dure, durFrench
- cruaidh, borb, garg, searbhScottish Gaelic
- रुखाHindi
- դաժանArmenian
- kerasIndonesian
- rigoroso, aspro, rude, accidentato, discordante, severo, crudele, grossolano, rigido, duro, gibboso, ruvidoItalian
- 粗いJapanese
- 냉혹하다, 가혹한, 거칠다Korean
- durus, raucusLatin
- raupjš, rupjšLatvian
- wreed, zwaar, ruw, grofDutch
- hardeNorwegian
- szorstkiPolish
- áspera, cruel, severo, grosso, grosseiro, áspero, duroPortuguese
- aspru, severRomanian
- суровый, шероховатый, шершавый, жестковатый, неприятный, жёсткий, резкий, твёрдый, строгий, грубый, зазубренныйRussian
- grubSerbo-Croatian
- vrazhdë, ashpërAlbanian
- mkaliSwahili
- కఠినమైనTelugu
- Khắc nghiệtVietnamese
- sevärikVolapük
- שטרענגYiddish
- 苛刻Chinese
Get even more translations for harsh »
Translation
Find a translation for the harsh synonym in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add these synonyms to your bibliography:
"harsh." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2022. Web. 13 Aug. 2022. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/harsh>.
Discuss these harsh synonyms with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In