What's the difference between harsh and scathing?

Harsh


Definition:

  • (a.) Rough; disagreeable; grating
  • (a.) disagreeable to the touch.
  • (a.) disagreeable to the taste.
  • (a.) disagreeable to the ear.
  • (a.) Unpleasant and repulsive to the sensibilities; austere; crabbed; morose; abusive; abusive; severe; rough.
  • (a.) Having violent contrasts of color, or of light and shade; lacking in harmony.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Federal judges who blocked the bans cited harsh rhetoric employed by Trump on the campaign trail , specifically a pledge to ban all Muslims from entering the US and support for giving priority to Christian refugees, as being reflective of the intent behind his travel ban.
  • (2) The first problem facing Calderdale is sheep-rustling Happy Valley – filmed around Hebden Bridge, with its beautiful stone houses straight off the pages of the Guardian’s Lets Move To – may be filled with rolling hills and verdant pastures, but the reality of rural issues are harsh.
  • (3) On referral to our clinic, his physical examination and tape recording were characterized by harsh inspiratory stridor.
  • (4) There are harsh lessons in football and we have learned some over the last week.” Two James Milner penalties and goals from the impressive Adam Lallana, Sadio Mané and Philippe Coutinho took Liverpool’s tally to 24 in eight games.
  • (5) The tougher external environment in 2015 means that our businesses and functions need to work … to take a number of measures in response to the harsh trading environment,” Dudley said, according to a memo reported by Reuters.
  • (6) I couldn't shake the harsh words from my head and worried about if, or when, they would spill over into real life.
  • (7) A former senior CIA official said the secretary of state at the time, Colin Powell, eventually was informed about the program and sat in meetings in which harsh interrogation techniques were discussed.
  • (8) The results indicate the presence of carbohydrate epitopes buried within collagenous polypeptides that are exposed by harsh denaturing conditions.
  • (9) Official papers released by the National Archives show that the "wets" – notably Jim Prior, Peter Walker, Ian Gilmour, Mark Carlisle, Lord Soames and Francis Pym – were able to demonstrate that a majority of the cabinet rejected as unnecessarily harsh Sir Geoffrey Howe's demands for further public spending cuts and tax cuts.
  • (10) We report a case of a 17 year old boy who was referred for evaluation of a large anterior mediastinal mass, causing dyspnea and cough and resulting in a harsh systolic murmur.
  • (11) I appeal to the king of Saudi Arabia to exercise his power to halt the public flogging by pardoning Mr Badawi, and to urgently review this type of extraordinarily harsh penalty.” Badawi’s case was one of several recent prosecutions of activists.
  • (12) • Very robust questioning, known as the harsh approach, could be banned – or if not "the approach should not include an analogy with a military drill sergeant".
  • (13) He said he did not oppose the criminalisation of homosexuality but said imprisonment and the death penalty are too harsh.
  • (14) Fellow opposition activists and sympathisers took the harsh sentence as a sign that heavy jail terms awaited the rest.
  • (15) Pledge news: harsh • 26 Jan , Darragh MacAnthony, Peterborough chairman on the "incredibly harsh" abuse by fans of manager Mark Cooper: "Nobody has given the bloke a chance.
  • (16) But initial fan reaction to the first teaser trailers was harsh.
  • (17) The probability of skin-galvanic reaction appearance was harshly decreased.
  • (18) Offshore detention with increased isolation in remote and harsh circumstances exaggerates that adversity.
  • (19) Pictures of the concentration camps served to reinforce the necessity of the war and its unavoidably harsh economic legacy.
  • (20) If you're in doubt of the impact this can have, "brand imagery" studies show that when participants smoke the exact same cigarettes presented in lighter coloured packs, or in packs with "mild" in the name, they rate the smoke as lighter and less harsh, simply through the power of suggestion.

Scathing


Definition:

  • (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Scath

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Bill Gates betrayed his ailing business partner and tried to deprive him of his share of the Microsoft fortune, according to a scathing memoir from Paul Allen , the company's billionaire co-founder.
  • (2) Abramovich, as you might expect, is now scathing about Berezovsky.
  • (3) Those sorts of failures and might-have-beens have pockmarked Kerry’s record, and the rebukes he has faced have at times been scathing.
  • (4) Myners – a non-executive director of Co-op group – was also scathing in his assessment of the board members after asking them a simple retail question and likening their inability to answer to that of Paul Flowers, former chairman of the Co-op bank, who had stumbled over basic questions posed by the Treasury select committee last year.
  • (5) ( more from Dean Baker here ) Other critics of austerity were equally scathing (Paul Krugman posted once , then twice ) .
  • (6) Her attacks on the president are scathing and she sees him as a busted flush, placing herself at the heart of drives to rebuild the French right after Sarkozy "implodes" at the election.
  • (7) Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, was scathing about the EU package for Greece over three years agreed last weekend by 15 eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund: "Markets have judged those arrangements to be inadequate," he said .
  • (8) An NHS trust's lack of honesty caused "unnecessary pain and further distress" to a family who had already suffered from the tragic and avoidable death of a baby boy, the health service ombudsman has said in the latest scathing verdict on the defensive culture within the health service.
  • (9) What the president thinks is it’s quite clear that new leadership with a set of skills and experiences that are unique to the challenges that OPM faces are urgently needed.” Republicans were scathing in their response to the scandal.
  • (10) Wong says he has been shocked by its silence at critical moments and is scathing overall: “It just focuses on trade deals.” And that, perhaps, is the subtext of the new documentary’s title.
  • (11) In a scathing assessment, the CQC reported it had found: “a culture of bullying and harassment” that “morale was low” and that “the decision in 2013 to remove 220 posts across the trust and down band several hundred more nursing staff has had a significant impact on morale and has stretched staffing levels in many areas” that “staffing was a key challenge across all services” poor implementation of a new IT system “had impacted on patient safety and care” and “patients were struggling to get appointments and be recognised as needing care and treatment” in A&E “there were delays in patients being assessed and in handovers taking place for patients who arrived by ambulance” and some patients were seen by the CQC to have received what it called “sub-optimal care”.
  • (12) Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the committee, was scathing about the size of the payoff.
  • (13) He also attempted to calm the waters after scathing reports about the Downing Street dinner with May that he and the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker , attended last week.
  • (14) Today staff who worked on the ill-fated magazine were scathing about Lebedev, who became the first Russian (and ex-KGB spy) to own a UK title when he bought a controlling stake in the Evening Standard in January.
  • (15) While focusing criticism on a few members of the regiment – particularly Corporal Donald Payne, Lieutenant Craig Rodgers and Lieutenant Colonel Jorge Mendonca – the report also passes scathing comment on the role of the unit's regimental medical officer, Dr Derek Keilloh, and its padre, Father Peter Madden.
  • (16) Mark Rock, the founder and chief executive of sound-sharing application Audioboo , was scathing about the industry's moves towards digital switchover and the decision to base principally around DAB radio.
  • (17) It is particularly scathing about the practice of some officials personally targeting political opponents including successive home secretaries, the Tory former chief whip Andrew Mitchell , and Tom Winsor, who produced the official report proposing significant police reforms.
  • (18) Russia’s nuclear sabre-rattling is unjustified, destabilising and dangerous Jens Stoltenberg In blunt language, the Nato chief delivered a scathing critique of Russia’s behaviour over the past year – including Moscow’s armed intervention in Ukraine – and vowed the transatlantic alliance would redouble its commitment to “collective defence”.
  • (19) As a consequence, he's the go-to guy for a scathing quote on dissembling theologies and their gullible believers.
  • (20) A scathing report by the Department of Justice last week concluded that Ferguson’s police and court system was blighted by racial bias .