What does harshening mean?
Harshening is the present participle of harshen, a verb meaning to make something harsh or more severe. Rather than describing a quality directly, the word presents harshness as a process: a policy can harshen sanctions, a shortage can harshen living conditions, or a dispute can harshen relations. The form is grammatically useful because it links the action to another noun, especially when the change is ongoing or clearly visible in context. It can also function as a participle before a noun, as in harshening conditions, where it describes conditions that are becoming or being made more severe. Harshening is not especially regional, but it is less common in everyday speech than the plainer alternatives making harsher, making more severe, or worsening. For general use, worsening is often the clearest choice when a situation is deteriorating, while harshen is effective when deliberate severity or increased harshness is the focus.
verbTo make something harsh or more severe. The word especially applies to making conditions, treatment, measures, or relations more severe or forbidding.
- Making something harsh or more severe.
"The proposed law would harshen penalties for late filings."
"The proposed law would harshen penalties for late filings."
"Extreme heat is harshening conditions for outdoor workers."
Harshening turns the adjective harsh into a process: something is not merely harsh; it is being made harsh.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of harshening
Harshening is the present participle and gerund of harshen, formed by adding the suffix -ing to the verb. Harshen derives from the adjective harsh by means of the suffix -en, while harsh comes from Old English harsk, meaning coarse, rough, or severe. Harsh has Germanic cognates that include German hart and Old Norse harðr, both of which historically carried senses related to hardness and severity.
Related word forms
How harshening is actually used
Neutral to formal and relatively uncommon. In everyday usage, making harsher, worsening, or making more severe may sound more natural. The present participle can also function adjectivally before a noun, as in harshening conditions.
Easily confused with harshening
Harshening means making something more severe, forbidding, or unappealing, whereas hardening means making something physically or figuratively hard.