harshness

Etymology

From Middle English harsknes; equivalent to harsh + -ness.

noun

  1. The quality of being harsh.
    And yet these harshnesses are tenderness itself when compared with the universal harshness out of which they grow; the harshness of the position towards the temperament, of the means towards the aims, of to-day towards yesterday, of hereafter towards to-day. 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, part 6

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