Possible Clues:

• 'Abrasive' is 'hard as hard'? That's about right
• 'Don't __ my mellow!'
• Grating to the ear
• Overly strict
• More than unpleasant
• Severe, as a punishment
• Coarse one leaves like a swift runner
• Severe; bleak
• Like Antarctic winds
• Unpleasantly stern or rough