different between harsh vs throaty

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

throat +? -y

Adjective

throaty (comparative throatier, superlative throatiest)

1. (of a sound) Produced in the throat; having a rough or coarse quality like a sound produced in the throat.
   • 1911, Pauline Johnson, Legends of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, “The Tulameen Trail,” p. 47,^[1]

     But the most haunting of all the melodies is the warbling laughter of the Tulameen; its delicate note is far more powerful, more far-reaching than the throaty thunders of the Niagara.

   • 1989, John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany, New York: William Morrow, Chapter 3, p. 129,^[2]

     We could hear a motor running; it seemed too deep and throaty a motor to be the squad car, and after we passed the high school, the engine noise grew louder.

   • 2012, Tom Lamont, How Mumford & Sons became the biggest band in the world (in The Daily Telegraph, 15 November 2012),^[3]

     Since forming in 2007 Mumford & Sons have hard-toured their way to a vast market for throaty folk that's strong on banjo and bass drum. They have released two enormous albums. But, wow, do they take some knocks back home.

2. (of livestock or dogs) Having a dewlap or excess skin hanging under the neck.
   • 1789, Mr. Marshall, The Rural Economy of Glocestershire, London: G. Nicol, p. 248,^[4]

     Qualities exceptionable in a Herefordshire ox, for grazing. […] The neck short, thick, coarse; loaded with leather and dewlap; “throaty.”

   • 1849, “Col. Randall’s Merino Sheep,” American Agriculturalist, Volume 8, No. 4, April 1849, p. 120,^[5]

     […] his flock is not so throaty as Merinos were formerly bred, as he considers throatiness objectionable.

   • 1926, Warren Miller, The American Hunting Dog, New York: Appleton, Chapter , p. 31,^[6]

     In 1558 the beagle had become well patronised by royalty and was painted by court painters, so that we know his type to have been already well established, a small hound with long, drooping ears, short pudgy body and throaty neck.

Derived terms

• throatily
• throatiness

Translations