/hɑɹʃ/, /hɑːʃ/, /hæʃ/
OriginFrom 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); 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”
“harsh teacher”
- ambitransitive, 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.””
- ambitransitive, 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.”
Formsharsher(comparative) · more harsh(comparative) · harshest(superlative) · most harsh(superlative) · harshes(present, singular, third-person) · harshing(participle, present) · harshed(participle, past) · harshed(past) · Harshes(plural)