different between harsh vs scabrous

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

From Latin scaber (“scabrous, rough; scabby, mangy, itchy”) (from scab? (“to scratch, scrape, abrade”), from Proto-Indo-European *skab?- (“to scratch”)) + English -ous; compare French scabreux, Late Latin scabr?sus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?ske?b??s/, /?ska-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?skæb??s/, /?ske?-/
• Hyphenation: sca?brous

Adjective

scabrous (comparative more scabrous, superlative most scabrous)

1. Covered with scales or scabs; hence, very coarse or rough.

   Synonyms: scabby, scaly, scurfy; see also Thesaurus:scabby, Thesaurus:rough
2. (figuratively) Disgusting, repellent.

   Synonyms: repulsive, vile; see also Thesaurus:unpleasant
3. (figuratively) Of music, writing, etc.: lacking refinement; unmelodious, unmusical.

   Synonyms: harsh, rough; see also Thesaurus:cacophonous

   • 1693, John Dryden, “The Dedication”, in Juvenal; Persius; John Dryden, [William Congreve, and Nahum Tate], transl., The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], ?OCLC, page xxx:

     [A]s his Verse is ?cabrous, and hobbling, and his Words not every where well cho?en, the purity of Latin being more corrupted, than in the time of Juvenal, and con?equently of Horace, who writ when the Language was in the heighth of its perfection; ?o his diction is hard; his Figures are generally too bold and daring; and his Tropes, particularly his Metaphors, in?ufferably ?train'd.
4. (figuratively) Difficult, thorny, troublesome.
5. (figuratively, chiefly US) Covered with a crust of dirt or grime.

Derived terms

• scabrously
• scabrousness

Related terms

• scab
• scaberulous
• scabies

Translations

Further reading

• “scabrous”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.