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 writing style combines careful historical detail with moving personal recollection, allowing readers to vicariously experience the grueling training, camaraderie, and hardships of St. Gertrude's Hospital School of Nursing’s nursing students, more commonly referred to as St. Trudy's students.—
Sixteen Ramos,
USA Today,
9 May 2025
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This is a sweet story all about family legacy, authentic food, and fighting to preserve both in the face of hardship.—
DeVonne Goode,
Parents,
8 May 2025
Noun
-
The Indian army said in a statement late on Friday that drones were sighted in 26 locations across a wide area of India's west and northwest from Kashmir and states bordering Pakistan to the edge of the Arabian Sea.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
11 May 2025
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Toll-takers on the Venetian Causeway were in their booths as the tornado swept through just yards away, tearing into trees at a small public park at water’s edge.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
10 May 2025
Noun
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Recalls are typically classified by severity, and while not all involve immediate danger, they are carried out as a precaution to protect public health.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 May 2025
-
Class 2 obesity: This ranges from 35-39.9, with a moderate risk of severity.—
Sherri Gordon,
Health,
15 May 2025
Noun
-
Listen to Booster and Yang talk about the difficulty of working alongside their cutie costars in the podcast episode above.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
2 May 2025
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The broader issue is that the Cubs may have difficulties finding an upgrade.—
Sahadev Sharma,
New York Times,
2 May 2025
Noun
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The agency says that the disease is carried by mosquito bites, and symptoms include fever, pain, and other flu-like symptoms.—
Michael Cappetta,
Travel + Leisure,
15 May 2025
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The baby is a twin, and her twin brother also had bite marks on his feet, officials said.—
Jenna Sundel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 May 2025
Noun
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Ultimately, restrictions on vacant CPS property sales are part of a broader problem, and that’s education officials’ open hostility toward alternative education models.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2025
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Then a decade of talks crashed into President Trump’s hostility toward Canada.—
Karen Weise,
New York Times,
13 May 2025
Noun
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In Canada, modest supply management policies keep farmgate and farmer pay prices higher, while disincentivizing the buildout of fast-paced, crowded and large scale production facilities at the heart of avian flu virulence.—
Errol Schweizer,
Forbes,
24 Mar. 2025
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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
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 21 May. 2025.
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