as in severely
in a manner so as to cause loss or suffering
treated the prisoners harshly, and many died
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Recent Examples of harshly
In a follow-up study, highly attractive female fitness influencers faced stronger backlash than equally attractive men, perhaps reflecting a broader social tendency to judge women’s looks more harshly.
—
Abby Frank, The Conversation, 5 Nov. 2025
The Next Gen Stats model graded the decision even more harshly, a 7% dip in win probability.
—Sam McDowell 4, Kansas City Star, 4 Nov. 2025
The Irish had a lot of time to make up the ground against inferior opponents, while other teams finding their second losses now seem to have been penalized more harshly.
—Chris Vannini, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Without naming prosecutors, NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch in February harshly criticized district attorneys in the city.
—Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 2 Nov. 2025
Several testers found the monk fruit or allulose sweeteners (depending on flavor) tipped the drinks in a harshly herbal or saccharine direction, and found the high from the Uplifting Watermelon Lime flavor to be jarringly strong.
—Chala June, Bon Appetit Magazine, 29 Oct. 2025
Tagovailoa was harshly criticized for his comments and later apologized, with many questioning the signal-caller's leadership capabilities.
—Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
The chamber has harshly criticized the proposal on its website and in mass texts.
—David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Oct. 2025
Bipartisan condemnation of Santos, but some Republican support Many of his fellow congressional Republicans were harshly critical of Santos after his crimes emerged.
—Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 17 Oct. 2025
Abby Frank, The Conversation, 5 Nov. 2025
The Next Gen Stats model graded the decision even more harshly, a 7% dip in win probability.
—Sam McDowell 4, Kansas City Star, 4 Nov. 2025
The Irish had a lot of time to make up the ground against inferior opponents, while other teams finding their second losses now seem to have been penalized more harshly.
—Chris Vannini, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Without naming prosecutors, NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch in February harshly criticized district attorneys in the city.
—Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 2 Nov. 2025
Several testers found the monk fruit or allulose sweeteners (depending on flavor) tipped the drinks in a harshly herbal or saccharine direction, and found the high from the Uplifting Watermelon Lime flavor to be jarringly strong.
—Chala June, Bon Appetit Magazine, 29 Oct. 2025
Tagovailoa was harshly criticized for his comments and later apologized, with many questioning the signal-caller's leadership capabilities.
—Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
The chamber has harshly criticized the proposal on its website and in mass texts.
—David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Oct. 2025
Bipartisan condemnation of Santos, but some Republican support Many of his fellow congressional Republicans were harshly critical of Santos after his crimes emerged.
—Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 17 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harshly
Adverb
-
In August, a group of Palestinian children who had been severely injured in the war in Gaza arrived in San Francisco after the State Department issued around two hundred temporary visas for medical treatment.—
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
-
The administration has slashed funding for federal and university research and severely restricted visas for foreign scientists and technologists.—
LAEL BRAINARD,
Foreign Affairs,
10 Nov. 2025
Adverb
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The second planet from the sun has a completely inhospitable surface, with temperatures reaching 863 degrees Fahrenheit (462 degrees Celsius) and a crushing pressure underneath an oppressively thick atmosphere.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
1 Oct. 2025
-
On an oppressively hot Friday in July, plumes of smoke curl up from Arnolds Field.—
Laura Paddison,
CNN Money,
15 Aug. 2025
Adverb
-
The group, originally led by Seth Rollins, brutally betrayed him, which was used to write Rollins off television after an injury forced him to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship.—
Andrew Ravens,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
-
On a brutally hot day this summer, my friend Max met up with his family at a playground.—
James Somers,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Adverb
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That can take nefarious forms, such as hypothetically hard-coding cheaper ticket prices into the site that are hidden to human users but visible to AI bots, making the platform seem like a more affordable option to the computer model.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
10 Nov. 2025
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The show’s second season, based on Mona Kasten’s book Save You, follows the first installment, which found James Beaufort (Damien Hardung) and Ruby Bell (Harriet Herbig-Matten) go from enemies to lovers as the both worked hard to get into Oxford.—
Dessi Gomez,
Deadline,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harshly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harshly. Accessed 17 Nov. 2025.
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