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.

To assess excessive punishment claims, Colorado courts begin by comparing “the gravity or seriousness of the offense to the harshness of the penalty.”

From Slate • Dec. 29, 2025

Without discounting the harshness of that imposed acculturation, he thanked what it gained him rather than resenting the means.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025

This is a place where players have to roll up their sleeves and get on with it despite the golfing environment's stark harshness.

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2025

It means discovering the warmth and harshness of the world as Elwood encounters it — and later, as Turner does — not merely as a spectator but as if living it ourselves.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2024

She stared at the limpid, naked sky looking for traces of a cloud, hoping that sooner or later a drop of rain would fall to break the unbearable harshness of that lunar valley.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende