| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | harsh |
| Synonyms: | acetic, acrid, biting, bitter, cutting, sharp, tonic |
| Antonyms: | bland, mild |
| Main Entry: | acrid |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | bitter, sour to taste |
| Synonyms: | acid, amaroidal, astringent, biting, burning, caustic, harsh, irritating, pungent, sharp, stinging |
| Antonyms: | delicious, savory, sweet |
| Main Entry: | acrimonious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | nasty in behavior, speech |
| Synonyms: | acerbic, acid, angry, astringent, belligerent, biting, bitter, caustic, censorious, churlish, crabby, cranky, cross, cutting, indignant, irascible, irate, ireful, mad, mordant, peevish, petulant, rancorous, sarcastic, sharp, spiteful, splenetic, tart, testy, trenchant, wrathful |
| Antonyms: | kind, kindly, peaceable |
| Main Entry: | austere |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | severe in manner |
| Synonyms: | ascetic, astringent, cold, earnest, exacting, forbidding, formal, grave, grim, hard, harsh, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, rigid, rigorous, serious, sober, solemn, somber, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, unfeeling, unrelenting |
| Antonyms: | bland, calm, gentle, meek, mild |
| Main Entry: | bitter |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | pungent, sharp |
| Synonyms: | absinthal, absinthian, acerb, acerbic, acid, acrid, amaroidal, astringent, harsh, sour, tart, unsweetened, vinegary |
| Antonyms: | bland, mild, pleasant, sweet |
| Main Entry: | caustic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | burning, corrosive |
| Synonyms: | abrasive, acerbic, acid, acrid, alkaline, astringent, biting, corroding, erosive, keen, mordant, pungent, tart |
| Antonyms: | calm, mild, soothing |
| Main Entry: | harsh |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | rough, crude (to the senses) |
| Synonyms: | acrid, asperous, astringent, bitter, bleak, cacophonous, caterwauling, clashing, coarse, cracked, craggy, creaking, croaking, disagreeing, discordant, dissonant, disturbing, earsplitting, flat, glaring, grating, grim, guttural, hard, hoarse, incompatible, jagged, jangling, jarring, noisy, not smooth, off-key, out-of-key, out-of-tune, rasping, raucous, rigid, rugged, rusty, screeching, severe, sharp, sour, strident, stridulous, tuneless, uneven, unlevel, unmelodious, unmusical, unrelenting |
| Antonyms: | easy, gentle, mild, peaceful, pleasing, smooth, soft |
| Main Entry: | peppery |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | irritable; sarcastic |
| Synonyms: | acute, angry, astringent, biting, caustic, choleric, cranky, cross, fiery, hot-tempered, incisive, irascible, keen, lively, passionate, quick-tempered, sharp, sharp-tempered, snappish, spirited, spunky, stinging, testy, touchy, trenchant, waspish |
| Antonyms: | cheerful, happy |
| Main Entry: | severe |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | uncompromising, stern |
| Synonyms: | astringent, austere, biting, caustic, close, cold, cruel, cutting, disapproving, dour, earnest, firm, flinty, forbidding, grave, grim, hard, hard-nosed, harsh, inconsiderate, inexorable, inflexible, iron-handed, obdurate, oppressive, peremptory, pitiless, relentless, resolute, resolved, rigid, satirical, scathing, serious, sober, stern, stiff*, strait-laced, strict, tight-lipped, unalterable, unbending, unchanging, unfeeling, unrelenting, unsmiling, unsparing |
| Antonyms: | amenable, compromising, easy-going, friendly, willing |