Standard Lemma guide

harshly

adv · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈhɑːʃli/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: HH AA1 R SH L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

In a harsh manner; severely.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adverb

Meaning 2

in a harsh and grating manner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • her voice fell gratingly on our ears

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gratingly, raspingly

Antonyms: none provided

3

adverb

Meaning 3

in a harsh or unkind manner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • `That's enough!,' he cut in harshly

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English harsh Middle English -ly English -ly English harshly From harsh + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: рязко (rjazko) — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Czech: přísně — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Czech: krutě — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Finnish: karkeasti — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Finnish: tylysti — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Finnish: julmasti — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Finnish: ankarasti — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Finnish: vakavasti — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Finnish: karskisti — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Georgian: უხეშად (uxešad) — in a harsh manner; severely
  • German: harsch — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Gothic: 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌿𐌱𐌰 (harduba) — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Italian: aspramente — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Italian: severamente — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Italian: duramente — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Latin: asperē — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Polish: bezwzględnie — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Romanian: sever — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Romanian: dur — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Romanian: cu asprime — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Russian: ре́зко (rézko) — in a harsh manner; severely
  • Russian: суро́во (suróvo) — in a harsh manner; severely