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asperity
[ uh-sper-i-tee ]
noun
- harshness or sharpness of tone, temper, or manner; severity; acrimony:
The cause of her anger did not warrant such asperity.
Synonyms: astringency, bitterness, acerbity
Antonyms: cheerfulness, affability
- hardship; difficulty; rigor:
the asperities of polar weather.
- roughness of surface; unevenness.
- something rough or harsh.
asperity
/ æˈspɛrɪtɪ /
noun
- 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
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of asperity1
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Example Sentences
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.
Miss Carrington heard the bustle in the class, so she sat up and looked out over the room with asperity.
The orators of the opposition declaimed against him with great animation and asperity.
Yet her mother, at this, turned upon her with sudden asperity.
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