Harshened

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Made tougher or more severe in character or condition
2. Increased in intensity or roughness to create a stronger impact
3. Altered to become more stringent, unkind, or abrasive

Etymology: "Harshened" is the past tense and past participle of "harshen," a verb built in the plainest way possible: the adjective "harsh" with the suffix "-en," which turns adjectives into verbs meaning "to make or become" the quality named. So "harshen" means to make something harsh, and "harshened" describes something that has been made more severe. "Harsh" itself is an older word than the suffix that now sits on it, and the pattern of "-en" verbs is one of the oldest in English, found in pairs like "lengthen," "strengthen," and "whiten." Speakers have long been able to attach this ending to adjectives freely, so a form like "harshen" can appear whenever a writer needs to say that something has been made severer, without any special history behind it.