asperity
harshness or sharpness of tone, temper, or manner; severity; acrimony: The cause of her anger did not warrant such asperity.
hardship; difficulty; rigor: the asperities of polar weather.
roughness of surface; unevenness.
something rough or harsh.
Origin of asperity
1Other words for asperity
Opposites for asperity
Words Nearby asperity
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use asperity in a sentence
He looked at the president when the president spoke, and his expression revealed no asperity or disdain.
"Nevertheless, the contrary is the case," replied Doa Encarnacion, with asperity.
Mr. D., accustomed to unrestrained license of tongue, retorted with great asperity, and much harshness of language.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun; | VariousMiss Carrington heard the bustle in the class, so she sat up and looked out over the room with asperity.
The Girls of Central High on the Stage | Gertrude W. MorrisonThe orators of the opposition declaimed against him with great animation and asperity.
The History of England from the Accession of James II. | Thomas Babington Macaulay
Yet her mother, at this, turned upon her with sudden asperity.
The Tragic Muse | Henry James
British Dictionary definitions for asperity
/ (æˈspɛrɪtɪ) /
roughness or sharpness of temper
roughness or harshness of a surface, sound, taste, etc
a condition hard to endure; affliction
physics the elastically compressed region of contact between two surfaces caused by the normal force
Origin of asperity
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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