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.
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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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Volunteering or creating a nonprofit will help those around you who are going through hardship.Essence, Essence, 7 Jan. 2025
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Dunnett said the event provides cancer patients and their families with a day to have fun and enjoy Great America, and to be around other families who are going through the same hardships.Isha Trivedi, The Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2025
Noun
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But something else has been cultivated in the process of essentially playing a full extra season in the last six years: a prevailing psychological edge that should gird them for the playoffs in a way no other current NFL team can know.Vahe Gregorian, Kansas City Star, 10 Jan. 2025
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He was rated as the No. 1 edge rusher by Rivals and On3 in the 2024 recruiting cycle.Mitch Sherman, The Athletic, 10 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) noted a post-2020 increase in both the frequency and severity of such incidents, although specific links to alcohol consumption remain unclear.John Mac Ghlionn, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025
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Each country is then assigned a 0-100 score on our Atrocities Scope and Scale Heuristic – providing a single metric for the breadth and severity of atrocities committed within a certain year.Collin J. Meisel, The Conversation, 13 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Each group is coded by color to indicate difficulty: yellow for the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple for more challenging sets.Billie Schwab Dunn, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025
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Of the 170 starters, only 74 competitors managed to cross the finish line – a testament to the difficulty of the rally.New Atlas, New Atlas, 6 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Customers can get their first bites of the new steak garlic nacho fries Thursday, Jan. 16, at participating Taco Bell restaurants nationwide, according to the fast-food chain.Tanasia Kenney, Kansas City Star, 15 Jan. 2025
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The impact of the former could be more bark than bite, given that the U.S. has significantly reduced its dependence on Chinese imports over the past decade.Wes Moss, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
Noun
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On several occasions tensions between the two countries — NATO allies divided by deep historical antagonisms — have stirred powerful nationalist passions and brought them to the brink of hostilities.Alan Cowell, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2025
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In it, Elphaba and Galinda profess their undying friendship; suffice it to say that Grande found the notion of treating her co-star with violent hostility an acting challenge.Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 2 Jan. 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
Thesaurus Entries Near asperity
Cite this Entry
“Asperity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/asperity. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
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