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# harshness

«harshness» in Mova's school dictionary: **Being unkind, strict or cruel: the harshness of the…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (harshness — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Being unkind, strict or cruel: the harshness of the punishment. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harshness/#m1)

2) Being rough and unpleasant to the senses: the harshness of a sound, a light or a taste. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harshness/#m2)

3) Being very difficult to live in: the harshness of the desert or the Arctic winter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harshness/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In stories and history it describes strict rulers, hard punishments and cruel words; in geography and science it describes extreme climates, like deserts and polar regions, where animals need special adaptations. In ethics lessons we compare harshness with fairness and kindness. Phrases: the harshness of winter, harshness of the climate, harshness of her words.

### examples

- The harshness of the Arctic winter makes life hard for animals. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harshness/#x1)
- We were shocked by the harshness of the punishment. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harshness/#x2)
- The harshness in his voice made the little boy cry. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harshness/#x3)
- Camels are adapted to the harshness of the desert. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harshness/#x4)
- The bright light's harshness hurt my eyes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harshness/#x5)
- She said sorry for the harshness of her words. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harshness/#x6)

### note

Uncountable. From «harsh» + -ness. Opposites: gentleness, softness, kindness, mildness.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «harshness» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/harshness/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.