different between harsh vs ragged

English

Etymology

From Middle English harsk, harisk(e), hask(e), herris. Century derived the term from Old Norse harskr (whence Danish harsk (“rancid”), dialectal Norwegian hersk, Swedish härsk); the Middle English Dictionary derives it from that and Middle Low German harsch (“rough”, literally “hairy”) (whence also German harsch), from haer (“hair”); the Oxford Dictionary of English derives it from Middle Low German alone.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /h???/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /h???/
• Rhymes: -??(?)?

Adjective

harsh (comparative harsher, superlative harshest)

1. Unpleasantly rough to the touch or other senses.
2. Severe or cruel.

Antonyms

• genteel

Translations

Verb

harsh (third-person singular simple present harshes, present participle harshing, simple past and past participle harshed)

1. (intransitive, slang) To negatively criticize.
2. (transitive, slang) to put a damper on (a mood).

Synonyms

• rough

Derived terms

• harshly
• harshness

Translations

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English ragged, from North Germanic. Compare with Old Norse r?gvaðr (“tufted”) and Norwegian ragget (“shaggy”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: r?g'?d, IPA^(key): /??æ??d/

Adjective

ragged (comparative more ragged, superlative most ragged)

1. In tatters, having the texture broken.

   a ragged coat

   a ragged sail

2. Having rough edges; jagged or uneven

   ragged rocks

3. Harsh-sounding; having an unpleasant noise
   • 1912, David Herbert Lawrence, The Trespasser, Chapter 12

     There was a ragged noise of bleating from the flock penned in a corner of the yard. Two red-armed men seized a sheep, hauled it to a large bath that stood in the middle of the yard, and there held it, more or less in the bath, whilst a third man baled a dirty yellow liquid over its body.

4. Wearing tattered clothes.

   a ragged fellow

5. Rough; shaggy; rugged.
   • 1969, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, Bridge over Troubled Water, Columbia Records:

     Seeking out the poorer quarters
     Where the ragged people go

6. Faulty; lacking in skill, reliability, or organization.
7. (music) performed in a syncopated manner, especially in ragtime.
8. (computing) Of a data structure: having uneven levels.

   a ragged hierarchy

   a ragged array, consisting of a number of arrays of varying size

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From rag

Pronunciation

• enPR: r?gd, IPA^(key): /?æ?d/

Verb

ragged

1. simple past tense and past participle of rag

Anagrams

• Dagger, dagger, dragge

Middle English

Alternative forms

• raggid, ragget, raggede, raggyd, ragyd, reaggeth, raged, raggit

Etymology

From Old Norse raggaðr; equivalent to and reinforced by ragge +? -ed.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ra?id/

Adjective

ragged

1. ragged, raggy, raglike
2. shaggy, furry
3. rough, jagged, spiked

Descendants

• English: ragged
• Scots: raggit

References

• “ragged(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-02.