asperity
noun
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The etymology of asperity is "rough." It is adapted from Middle English asprete, which was borrowed from the Anglo-French aspreté, and ultimately derives from the Latin word asper, which means "rough." Not only is asper the source of asperity, but it also underlies the English word exasperate (in fact, you can see asper nestled in the midst of that word). Although it is far less common than asperity and exasperate, the word asper itself is still occasionally used in English—it functions as a synonym of harsh, bitter, and stern.
Examples of asperity in a Sentence
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
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
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
Cite this Entry
“Asperity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/asperity. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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asperity
noun
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