harshness

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Harshness tempered with naïveté is central to its style and argument.

From New York Times • Apr. 11, 2024

Harshness in sentencing became a way to soothe the pain of grief-stricken families.

From Slate • Feb. 9, 2022

Harshness may cow criminals, but does not improve them: on the contrary, it only serves to irritate them or to convert them into hypocrites.

From Criminal Man According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso by Lombroso, Gina

I never cou’d find my self shocked with the Harshness of those Languages, which grates so much in the Ears of those that never heard them.

From An apology for the study of northern antiquities by Elstob, Elizabeth

Kindness to friends and foes 'tis well to show, No kindly heart can prove unkind, I trow: Harshness will alienate a bosom friend, And kindness reconcile a deadly foe.

From The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam by Khayyam, Omar