harsh
adjective
[ hɑːʃ ]
• unpleasantly rough or jarring to the senses.
• "drenched in a harsh white neon light"
Similar:
grating,
jarring,
grinding,
rasping,
raspy,
strident,
raucous,
brassy,
jangling,
metallic,
ear-piercing,
discordant,
dissonant,
disagreeable,
unharmonious,
cacophonous,
unmelodious,
screeching,
shrill,
tinny,
squeaky,
squawking,
rough,
coarse,
guttural,
hoarse,
gruff,
croaky,
croaking,
growly,
growling,
stridulant,
glaring,
bright,
dazzling,
brilliant,
loud,
flashy,
garish,
gaudy,
lurid,
bold,
showy,
crude,
vulgar,
• cruel or severe.
• "a time of harsh military discipline"
Similar:
cruel,
severe,
savage,
barbarous,
despotic,
dictatorial,
tyrannical,
tyrannous,
ruthless,
merciless,
pitiless,
relentless,
unrelenting,
hard,
strict,
intolerant,
illiberal,
hard-hearted,
heartless,
unkind,
inhuman,
inhumane,
unfeeling,
unsympathetic,
unmerciful,
unpitying,
suppressive,
stringent,
firm,
austere,
punitive,
draconian,
stiff,
brutal,
stern,
rigid,
rigorous,
grim,
uncompromising,
inflexible,
spartan,
rough,
comfortless,
inhospitable,
stark,
bleak,
desolate,
barren,
bitter,
wild,
Origin:
Middle English: from Middle Low German harsch ‘rough’, literally ‘hairy’, from haer ‘hair’.
