harsh
adjectiveverbcommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈhɑːʃ//
- United Kingdom/[ˈhɑːʃ]/
- Australia//ˈhäːʃ//
- Australia/[ˈhäːʃ] ~ /ˈhɐ̞ːʃ//
- Australia/[ˈhɐ̞ːʃ]/
Unpleasantly rough to the touch or other senses.
adjective
- 1
Unpleasantly rough to the touch or other senses.
- 2
Severe or cruel.
harsh decision
harsh penalty
harsh teacher
harsh rule
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.
verb
- 1
slangTo negatively criticize.
Quit harshing me already, I said that I was sorry!
Stop harshing on yourself. Who said you're the ugly sister?
“Stop harshing on me, Daddy.” “Harshing?” “Don't yell at me. I didn't do anything.”
- 2
slangTo 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.
On their third date, Lizzie had actually said to him, "You're sort of harshing my mellow." It made him wonder if she might be stupid, and not just young.
"They're mostly mercenaries these days. But whose?" "Serbian mercenaries? You're harshing my groove, man. I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that...."
Forms
- comparative
- harsher, more harsh
- superlative
- harshest, most harsh
- past tense
- harshed
- past participle
- harshed
- present participle
- harshing
- third person singular
- harshes
harsh · Unpleasantly rough to the touch or other senses.
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