Words That Mean Harsh and Severe
Severity applied to people, standards or sound — austere denies comfort, acerbic cuts, stringent leaves no room.
18 words
- Abrasivenoun
a substance that abrades or wears down
- Acerbicadjective
harsh or corrosive in tone
- Acridadjective
harsh or corrosive in tone
- Asceticadjective
pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic or the practice of rigorous self-discipline
- Austereadjective
of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect
- Causticadjective
of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action
- Corrosivenoun
a substance having the tendency to cause corrosion (such a strong acids or alkali)
- Douradjective
harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance; ; ; ; - J.M.Barrie
- Exactingadjective
having complicated nutritional requirements; especially growing only in special artificial cultures
- Inexorableadjective
impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reason; ; - W.Churchill
- Pungentadjective
capable of wounding
- Raucousadjective
disturbing the public peace; loud and rough
- Relentlessadjective
not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty
- Spartanadjective
unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or judgment; - H.G.Wells
- Stridentadjective
of speech sounds produced by forcing air through a constricted passage (as `f', `s', `z', or `th' in both `thin' and `then')
- Stringentadjective
demanding strict attention to rules and procedures
- Virulentadjective
extremely poisonous or injurious; producing venom
- Vitriolicadjective
of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action
Study these against
A word’s meaning sharpens against its opposite. These sets are the ones worth holding beside harsh and severe.