harshest

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rough, crude (to the senses) adj.
nasty, abusive adj.

ADJECTIVE

rough, crude (to the senses)

Synonyms

STRONGEST

bitter bleak grim hard rigid severe sharp strident

STRONG

coarse

WEAK

acrid asperous astringent cacophonous caterwauling clashing cracked craggy creaking croaking disagreeing discordant dissonant disturbing earsplitting flat glaring grating guttural hoarse incompatible jagged jangling jarring noisy not smooth off-key out-of-key out-of-tune rasping raucous rugged rusty screeching sour stridulous tuneless uneven unlevel unmelodious unmusical unrelenting

Antonyms

STRONGEST

bland bright calm cheerful easy facile flexible kind low mild moderate nice pleasant pliable pliant soft sunny yielding

WEAK

courteous gentle peaceful pleasing polite smooth

ADJECTIVE

nasty, abusive

Synonyms

STRONGEST

bitter brutal cruel grim hard punitive relentless rude ruthless severe sharp stern stringent tough unkind unpleasant

WEAK

austere comfortless cussed discourteous dour gruff hairy hard-boiled hard-nosed hard-shell mean pitiless uncivil unfeeling ungracious unrelenting wicked

Antonyms

STRONGEST

agreeable bland calm cheerful compassionate considerate easy facile flexible friendly gentle giving good inexact kind merciful mild nice pleasant sympathetic tolerant wonderful

WEAK

courteous peaceful pleasing polite smooth soft

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.

See Examples For:

harshest

The NBA on Wednesday delivered one of the harshest penalties in league history to the Los Angeles Clippers, owned by Steve Ballmer, for what it called a “flagrant violation” of its salary-cap rules.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

They formed an essential part of the survival strategies that enabled people to live in some of the harshest environments on Earth.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026

Excommunication is one of the harshest punishments that can be given by the Church, effectively expelling the offender from the religion and excluding them from Catholic life.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

They are each other’s first readers and, occasionally, harshest critics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026

His appetite did not change under either the best or the harshest of circumstances.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez