Unpleasantly stern:
— Wild and harsh country full of hot sand and cactus.

synonym: rough.

Roget 914a: pitiless, merciless, ruthless, bowelless; unpitying, unmerciful, inclement; grim-faced, grim-visaged; incompassionate^†, uncompassionate; inexorable; harsh etc. 739; unrelenting etc. 919.    ... show more

Roget 907: malevolent, unbenevolent; unbenign; ill-disposed, ill-intentioned, ill-natured, ill-conditioned, ill-contrived; evil-minded, evil-disposed; black-browed^†.    malicious; malign, malignant; rancorous; despiteful, spiteful; mordacious, caustic, bitter, envenomed, acrimonious, virulent; unamiable, uncharitable; maleficent, venomous, grinding, galling.    harsh, disobliging; unkind, unfriendly, ungracious; inofficious^†; invidious; uncandid; churlish etc. (discourteous) 895; surly, sullen etc. 901.1. cold, cold-blooded, cold-hearted; black-hearted, hard-hearted, flint-hearted, marble-hearted, stony-hearted; hard of heart, unnatural; ruthless etc. (unmerciful) 914.1; relentless etc. (revengeful) 919.    cruel; brutal, brutish; savage, savage as a bear, savage as a tiger; ferine^†, ferocious; inhuman; barbarous, barbaric, semibarbaric, fell, untamed, tameless, truculent, incendiary; bloodthirsty etc. (murderous) 361; atrocious; bloodyminded^†.    fiendish, fiendlike^†; demoniacal; diabolic, diabolical; devilish, infernal, hellish, Satanic; Tartaran.    ... show more

Roget 895: discourteous, uncourteous^†; uncourtly^†; ill-bred, ill-mannered, ill-behaved, ill-conditioned; unbred; unmannerly, unmannered; impolite, unpolite^†; unpolished, uncivilized, ungenteel; ungentleman-like, ungentlemanly; unladylike; blackguard; vulgar etc. 851; dedecorous^†; foul-mouthed foul-spoken; abusive.    uncivil, ungracious, unceremonious; cool; pert, forward, obtrusive, impudent, rude, saucy, precocious.    repulsive; uncomplaisant^†, unaccommodating, unneighborly, ungallant; inaffable^†; ungentle, ungainly; rough, rugged, bluff, blunt, gruff; churlish, boorish, bearish; brutal, brusque; stern, harsh, austere; cavalier.    taint, sour, crabbed, sharp, short, trenchant, sarcastic, biting, doggish, caustic, virulent, bitter, acrimonious, venomous, contumelious; snarling etc. v.; surly, surly as a bear; perverse; grim, sullen etc. 901.1; peevish etc. (irascible) 901.    untactful, impolitic, undiplomatic; artless etc. 703; ... show more

Roget 830: causing pain, hurting etc. v.; hurtful etc. (bad) 649; painful; dolorific^†, dolorous; unpleasant; unpleasing, displeasing; disagreeable, unpalatable, bitter, distasteful; uninviting; unwelcome; undesirable, undesired; obnoxious; unacceptable, unpopular, thankless.    unsatisfactory, untoward, unlucky, uncomfortable.    distressing; afflicting, afflictive; joyless, cheerless, comfortless; dismal, disheartening; depressing, depressive; dreary, melancholy, grievous, piteous; woeful, rueful, mournful, deplorable, pitiable, lamentable; sad, affecting, touching, pathetic.    irritating, provoking, stinging, annoying, aggravating, mortifying, galling; unaccommodating, invidious, vexatious; troublesome, tiresome, irksome, wearisome; plaguing, plaguy^†; awkward.    importunate; teasing, pestering, bothering, harassing, worrying, tormenting, carking.    intolerable, insufferable, insupportable; unbearable, unendurable; past bearing; not to be borne, not to be endured; more than flesh and blood can bear; enough to drive one mad, enough to provoke a saint, enough to make a parson swear, enough to gag a maggot.    shocking, terrific, grim, appalling, crushing; dreadful, fearful, frightful; thrilling, tremendous, dire; heart-breaking, heart-rending, heart-wounding, heart-corroding, heart-sickening; harrowing, rending.    odious, hateful, execrable, repulsive, repellent, abhorrent; horrid, horrible, horrific, horrifying; offensive.    nauseous, nauseating; disgusting, sickening, revolting; nasty; loathsome, loathful^†; fulsome; vile etc. (bad) 649; hideous etc. 846.    sharp, acute, sore, severe, grave, hard, harsh, cruel, biting, caustic; cutting, corroding, consuming, racking, excruciating, searching, grinding, grating, agonizing; envenomed; catheretic^†, pyrotic [Med.].    ruinous, disastrous, calamitous, tragical; desolating, withering; burdensome, onerous, oppressive; cumbrous, cumbersome.    ... show more

Roget 579: inelegant, graceless, ungraceful; harsh, abrupt; dry, stiff, cramped, formal, guinde [Fr.]; forced, labored; artificial, mannered, ponderous; awkward, uncourtly^†, unpolished; turgid etc. 577; affected, euphuistic^†; barbarous, uncouth, grotesque, rude, crude, halting; offensive to ears polite.    2. Spoken Language ... show more

Roget 414: discordant; dissonant, absonant^†; out of tune, tuneless; unmusical, untunable^†; unmelodious, immelodious^†; unharmonious^†, inharmonious; singsong; cacophonous; harsh etc. 410; jarring.    ... show more

Roget 171: strong, energetic, forcible, active; intense, deep-dyed, severe, keen, vivid, sharp, acute, incisive, trenchant, brisk.    rousing, irritation; poignant; virulent, caustic, corrosive, mordant, harsh, stringent; double-edged, double-shotted^†, double-distilled; drastic, escharotic^†; racy etc. (pungent) 392.    potent etc. (powerful) 157; radioactive.    ... show more

Roget 401a: acrid, biting, astringent, sharp, harsh; bitter etc. 392.2. (5) Sound (i) SOUND IN GENERAL

Roget 739: severe; strict, hard, harsh, dour, rigid, stiff, stern, rigorous, uncompromising, exacting, exigent, exigeant^†, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, austere, hard-headed, hard-nosed, hard-shell [U.S.], relentless, Spartan, Draconian, stringent, strait-laced, searching, unsparing, iron-handed, peremptory, absolute, positive, arbitrary, imperative; coercive etc. 744; tyrannical, extortionate, grinding, withering, oppressive, inquisitorial; inclement etc. (ruthless) 914.1; cruel etc. (malevolent) 907; haughty, arrogant etc. 885; precisian^†.    ... show more

Unpleasantly rough or jarring to the senses.

Of textures that are rough to the touch or substances consisting of relatively large particles.

synonym: coarse.

Roget 410: creaking etc. v.; stridulous^†, harsh, coarse, hoarse, horrisonous^†, rough, gruff, grum^†, sepulchral, hollow.    sharp, high, acute, shrill; trumpet-toned; piercing, ear-piercing, high-pitched, high-toned; cracked; discordant etc. 414; cacophonous.    ... show more

Unkind or cruel or uncivil:
— Had harsh words.
— A harsh and unlovable old tyrant.

synonym: rough.

Severe.

Polish: twardy

Sharply disagreeable; rigorous:
— The harsh facts of court delays.

synonym: abrasive.