▪ I. harsh, a.
(hɑːʃ)
Forms: 3–6 harsk, 4 arsk, 5 harske, hars, 6 harse, harshe, har(r)ysh(e, 6–7 harrish, 6– harsh.
[ME. harsk, a northern word, found from c 1300, agrees in form (but hardly in sense) with OSw. harsk, Sw. härsk, Da. harsk rank, rancid, rusty (as bacon), not recorded in ONorse; also in form and sense with MLG. and mod.G. harsch harsh, rough. As a general Eng. word, harsh (harrish) is not found before 16th c. There is a northern by-form hask.
Ulterior etymology obscure: conjectured to be a deriv. in -sk, -sh, of hard (quasi hardsk), or of the root har- in harm.]
1. Disagreeably hard and rough to the touch; coarse in texture; rugged.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21343 Leon dantand harsk and herd. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Baptista 278 Ine to arsk hare he wes clede. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1084 Harske as a hundefisch..So was þe hyde of þat hulke hally al over! 1513 Douglas æneis iv. x. 9 Amang buskis harsk. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa i. 36 A kinde of harsh haire like goates. 1606 N. Baxter Sidney's Ourania D ij, Our spokes beene blunt rude harrish uncooth. 1626 Bacon Sylva §516 The Pith and the Kernel..are both of a harsh substance. 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1756) I. 322 An old Horse's Mouth being naturally harsh and thin of Flesh upon the Roof. 1876 Page Adv. Text-Bk. Geol. iv. 85 Volcanic ash and dust feel harsh to the finger. |
2. Repugnant or unpleasant to other bodily senses.
a. Unpleasantly rough to the taste; astringent.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 228/2 Harske, or haske, as sundry frutys (P. hars, or harske). 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. vii. (1541) 20 b, [Grapes] which are in taste bytter or harryshe. 1551 T. Wilson Logike Ded. (1580) A ij b, This fruite..maie perhaps in the first tastying, seeme somewhat rough and harshe in the mouthe. 1626 Bacon Sylva §40 Such Astriction is found in Things of an Harrish Tast. 1637 Milton Lycidas 3, I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude. 1809 N. Pinkney Trav. France 139 The water..is so harsh that it cannot be drunk. 1831 J. Davis Manual Mat. Med. 258 Black Oxide of Mercury..is..of a harsh taste. |
b. Disagreeably rough to the ear; jarring, discordant.
| 1530 [implied in harshness]. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 49 He was harrish of voyce, but yet eloquent. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xxvii. §2 Certain harsh and vnpleasant discords. ? 1630 Milton At a Solemn Music 20 And with harsh din Broke the fair musick. 1670 Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1711) 65 The Men have a harsh Language, and speak ratling in the Throat. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. II. 217 Loud and harsh as the scream of the peacock. 1892 W. Minto in Bookman Nov. 56/2 They are the only harsh notes in a volume of delightful verse. |
c. Of rough aspect; unpleasing or inharmonious to the eye; forbidding.
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 200 His face tanned, and all his lineaments..harsh and blackened by the sun. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. 141 The red glare of the fires upon these wild groups and harsh faces. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. I. 177 The energy and harsh proportions, sometimes reaching the height of caricature..in the bronze and terra-cotta figures. 1894 Wilson Cycl. Photogr. 179 A picture without half tones is harsh. |
d. Disagreeable or forbidding in general physical effect; attended with discomfort; rough, rude.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 422 The Kirgessen..Iteseliti, harsh names of harsher people in those most harsh and horrid desarts. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. To Rdr., The physician..prescribes harsh remedies to an inveterate disease. 1841 James Brigand ii, The harsh and boisterous state of the weather. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxi. 211 A cache of meat deposited..in this harsh wilderness. |
3. Repugnant or roughly offensive to the feelings; severe, rigorous, cruel, rude, rough, unfeeling.
a. Of actions, systems, etc.
| 1579–80 North Plutarch 503 (R.) His speech was not harsh nor churlish, but very mild and pleasant, as appeareth by the letters he wrote. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 289 It can neuer be, They will digest this harsh indignitie. 1659 W. Chamberlayne Pharonnida i. iii. (1850) 55 Whatever crime's the cause Of this harsh sentence. 1709 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Miss A. Wortley 21 Aug., Repent of your harsh censure. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 90 Under the harsh administration of Laud. |
b. Of persons.
| 1580 Sidney Arcadia 431 (N.) The verie shining force of excellent vertue, though in a very harrish subject. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 123 Not on thy soale: but on thy soule harsh Jew Thou mak'st thy knife keene. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 328 As conquerors, they have imitated the policy of the harshest of that harsh race. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 109 He is a harsh master to his servants. |
4. Repugnant to the understanding or taste; grating upon the mind or æsthetic faculty; strained, forced; lacking smoothness, unpleasing, ungraceful.
| 1594 Willobie Avisa (1880) 12 Easie to be vnderstood, without harrish absurdity. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia Pref. 1 Though the beginning may seeme harsh..a pleasanter Discourse ensues. 1710 Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. §38 It sounds very harsh to say we eat and drink ideas. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. 130 No harsh transitions Nature knows. 1897 Grenfell & Hunt λόγια Ἰησοῦ iii. 10 An accusative after νηστεύειν, ‘fast to the world’ is very harsh. |
5. Comb. a. Parasynthetic, as
harsh-featured,
harsh-mannered,
harsh-syllabled,
harsh-tongued,
harsh-voiced adjs. b. Adverbial, as
harsh-blustering,
harsh-echoing,
harsh-grating,
harsh-resounding,
harsh-sounding adjs. c. † harsh-weed, a name for Knapweed,
Centaurea Scabiosa (Sir J. Hill
Herb. Brit. 1760).
| 1735 Somerville Chase iv. 155 Thy threat'ning voice, *Harsh-echoing from the hills. |
| 1863 I. Williams Baptistery Pref. (1874) 14 Uncouth shapes, *Harsh-featur'd..rude of limb. |
| a 1743 Savage Wks. (1775) II. 75 (Jod.) Bars *harsh⁓grating. |
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 135 With *harsh resounding Trumpets dreadfull bray. |
| 1595 ― John iv. ii. 150 In rude *harsh sounding rimes. |
| 1870 Bryant Iliad I. i. 30 *Harsh-tongued! thou ever dost suspect me. |
| 1850 Lynch Theo. Trin. v. 73 Wisdom is not *harsh-voiced. |
▪ II. harsh, v. rare.
[f. prec. adj.] † 1. intr. To give a harsh sound; to creak.
Obs.| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 32 Gates with the metal dooe creake in shrilbated harshing. Ibid. ii. 63 At leingth with rounsefal, from stock vntruncked, yt harssheth. |
2. trans. To rub or clash roughly against.
| 1889 H. A. C. Dunn Fencing vii. 98 The defender parries tierce with a crisp tap, taking care not to harsh his blade. |