unforgiving - Not making an allowance for error or weakness in others; not willing to forgive others for things they might have done wrong.

Because they knew that Alaska in the winter is an unforgiving environment, they had to plan their expedition very carefully.
dowdy - (of a person or their clothes) unfashionable and without style in appearance (typically used of a woman)
When Helen reached the age of 100, she didn't care that people thought that she dressed in a dowdy manner, she contented herself thinking about the wonderful family she had raised.