1
as in bitterness
a harsh or sharp quality
doesn't like the asperity of most experimental music
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2
as in severity
biting sharpness of feeling or expression
she responded with such asperity that we knew she was deeply offended by the question
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3
as in hardship
something that is a cause for suffering or special effort especially in the attainment of a goal
as a physically challenged person, he has encountered more than his share of asperities on the road to success
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Recent Examples of asperity
Robin Waterfield’s Aesop’s Fables: A New Translation (Basic Books, $30) renders them in all their feral, fatalistic glory—bursts of Hobbesian asperity with dubious, sometimes conflicting, morals.
—
Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 22 Aug. 2024
Advertisement On a re-read, Orwell’s narrative holds up, in large part due to the asperity of the prose and the prescient description of how fascism can creep into any society that takes freedom for granted.
—Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2023
Her asperity has brought upon her the full flaming rage of the Twittersphere.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 2 Oct. 2022
By the time Keane wrote Devoted Ladies, a note of asperity had crept into her fiction.
—Francine Prose, The New York Review of Books, 22 Nov. 2018
Imagine Don Draper’s grasp of American psychopathology delivered with the pithy asperity of Emily Dickinson.
—Megan O’Grady, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2020
Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 22 Aug. 2024
Advertisement On a re-read, Orwell’s narrative holds up, in large part due to the asperity of the prose and the prescient description of how fascism can creep into any society that takes freedom for granted.
—Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2023
Her asperity has brought upon her the full flaming rage of the Twittersphere.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 2 Oct. 2022
By the time Keane wrote Devoted Ladies, a note of asperity had crept into her fiction.
—Francine Prose, The New York Review of Books, 22 Nov. 2018
Imagine Don Draper’s grasp of American psychopathology delivered with the pithy asperity of Emily Dickinson.
—Megan O’Grady, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for asperity
Noun
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Her great-grandmom’s sudden death due to the then untreatable disease tuberculosis caused all those hardships.—
Sweta Kaushal,
Forbes,
25 Feb. 2025
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Surrounded by unpredictability and hardship, one certainty remains for Herzallah: that if help is given, Palestinians can rebuild.—
Camilla Alcini,
ABC News,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The dogs crowded at the edge of the cliff, barking around a small piñon that grew from a crack in the rocks.—
Frank C. Hibben,
Outdoor Life,
27 Feb. 2025
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This is important because the solar wind ricochets around the bubble our solar system sits within, known as the heliosphere; the edges of that bubble represent the barrier between our cosmic neighborhood and the rest of the universe.—
Monisha Ravisetti,
Space.com,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Matthew Tkachuk’s injury Of utmost importance for the Panthers now that the tournament has concluded: Figuring out the severity of Matthew Tkachuk’s lower-body injury that hobbled him for most of the tournament.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
21 Feb. 2025
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Rivers told reporters that the risk of the appeal being unsuccessful and the suspension then ending later in the season was too great of a risk, even if the team disagreed with the severity of the punishment.—
Eric Nehm,
The Athletic,
21 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, Bell admitted to having difficulties with superspeedway-style racing earlier in his career but credited his team's hard work for the successful adjustments.—
Mark Joseph,
Newsweek,
24 Feb. 2025
-
If the firm backing the ETN has financial difficulties, the note might not be paid in full.—
Bob Carlson,
Forbes,
24 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
One bite and your neighbors may never try a frozen version again.—
Mary Shannon Wells,
Southern Living,
20 Feb. 2025
-
The result is a bite so flavor-dense that just a few ounces can amp up an entire dish.—
Jolene Thym,
The Mercury News,
19 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Police said Mangione was in possession of a firearm matching the one used in the shooting, a fake ID and a notebook expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives.—
Katherine Fung,
Newsweek,
21 Feb. 2025
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The stakes for Thursday's game were raised amid physical hostility between the teams throughout the tournament and geopolitical tension between the two countries in recent weeks.—
Jackson Thompson,
Fox News,
21 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Everything about the movement surprised political observers: its virulence, its magnitude, its provincial origins, its apparent lack of structure and leadership, and its adamant refusal to be co-opted by existing political parties and unions.—
Arthur Goldhammer,
Foreign Affairs,
12 Dec. 2018
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An ePPP is a pathogen that has been modified to enhance its transmissibility and virulence.—
Siladitya Ray,
Forbes,
27 Nov. 2024
Noun
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The third element of the trio is Mary Flynn, played by the terrific Lindsey Mendez, a 2018 Tony winner for Carousel, with a natural warmth that offsets the character’s growing acerbity.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
12 Dec. 2022
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The Brodie books demonstrate her great facility with genre, pairing pulse-quickening suspense with Atkinson’s distinctive blend of puckishness and acerbity.—
Sarah Chihaya,
The New Yorker,
16 Oct. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Asperity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/asperity. Accessed 2 Mar. 2025.
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