harshness

Noun

• excessive sternness
  • severity of character
    
  • the harshness of his punishment was inhuman
    
  • the rigors of boot camp
    

• the quality of being cruel and causing tension or annoyance

• the quality of being unpleasant (harsh or rough or grating) to the senses

• the roughness of a substance that causes abrasions

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  cruelty , cruelness , roughness , abrasiveness , scratchiness