What does harsh mean?
Word: Harsh
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Harsh means rough, unkind or too strong. Harsh words hurt feelings, and harsh weather is very hot, cold or dry.
Synonyms: rough, unkind, severe
Antonyms: kind, soft
How do you spell harsh?
Syllables: harsh
Tricky part: The word ends in sh, which children sometimes write as ch or sch.
Watch out for: harch, harsch
Memory tip: When someone speaks in a harsh voice, you want to whisper shh back. Let that shh close the word.
Harsh in a sentence
Example 1: The coach spoke in a harsh voice when we came late.
Example 2: Harsh sunlight in May made us stay indoors at noon.
Example 3: Saying harsh things to a friend can spoil the whole day.
Fun Fact
About 700 years ago the word was harsk, used in the north of England for things that were rough, coarse or sour. It probably came from a Scandinavian word.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
harsh
a) bitter
b) gentle
c) strict
d) stern
Show answer
b) gentle. Gentle means soft and kind, the opposite of harsh.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
shrah
a) harsh
b) hrash
c) rahsh
d) ahrsh
Show answer
a) harsh. The word opens with h and closes with the hushing sh.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The teacher was never hursh with us, even when we made mistakes.
a) teacher
b) mistakes
c) never
d) hursh
Show answer
d) hursh. Hursh has the ur of hurt, but harsh is spelt with ar, like the start of harm and hard.
Word Makeup
Choose the suffix that completes the word:
harsh
a) nes
b) ness
c) nis
d) niss
Show answer
b) ness. Harsh + ness makes harshness, with a double s at the end.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which light would feel harsh on your eyes?
a) the pale light just at dawn
b) a bare bright bulb at night
c) a soft candle glow at dinner
d) a dim lamp by the bed
Show answer
b) a bare bright bulb at night
2. The desert has a harsh climate. This means the climate is ____.
a) cool and pleasant
b) wet and green
c) mild all year
d) very hard to live in
Show answer
d) very hard to live in
