harsh
/ˈhɑːʃ/adjective, verb
harsh is spelled H-A-R-S-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, harsh means “Unpleasantly rough to the touch or other senses” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in harsh?
| Letters | 5: H-A-R-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is harsh?
Harsh appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce harsh?
- UK /ˈhɑːʃ/
- UK [ˈhɑːʃ]
- Australia /ˈhäːʃ/
Harsh has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-harsh.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with harsh?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as harsh from its last stressed vowel (/ɑʃ/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of harsh
- harsher comparative
- more harsh comparative
- harshest superlative
- most harsh superlative
- harshes present, singular, he/she/it
- harshing participle, present
- harshed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does harsh mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Unpleasantly rough to the touch or other senses.
- 2
Severe or cruel.
harsh decision
verb
- 1
slangTo negatively criticize.
Quit harshing me already, I said that I was sorry!
- 2
slangTo put a damper on (a mood).
Dude, you're harshing my buzz.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Harsh in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sévère, rude , cruel |
| German | rau, harsch , unwirsch, scharf, hart |
| Portuguese | áspero , duro, severo, grosso, grosseiro, cruel |
| Spanish | desalmado , despotricar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does harsh come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).