adverb

harshly

severely, cruelly, roughly

He was judged too harshly.

He was judged too harshly.

The wind blew harshly across the plain.

The wind blew harshly across the plain.

((verb)) harshly to modify a verb The manager spoke harshly to the employee.

Synonyms: severely, sternly, cruelly; Antonyms: gently, kindly, softly

From Old English 'hærsc' (rough, coarse) plus the adverbial suffix '-ly'.

Think of a 'harsh' sound, like scratching a blackboard, but applied to actions or words.

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