1
as in bitterness
a harsh or sharp quality
doesn't like the asperity of most experimental music
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in hardship
something that is a cause for suffering or special effort especially in the attainment of a goal
He overcame 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
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for asperity
Noun
-
Delicious and full of flavor, the roast contains brown sugar that balances out the bitterness of the beer, while vinegar adds a hint of brightness.—
Melinda Salchert,
Southern Living,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Additions like maple and honey round out the bitterness and tartness, creating balanced cocktails with depth and finesse.—
Essence,
Essence,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Vrabel downplayed the severity of the injury.—
Doug Kyed,
Boston Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
-
Its severity varies depending on the strain and species that is infected.—
Kelli Arseneau,
jsonline.com,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Another hardship would soon come his way as Baldwin began to write openly about same-sex love.—
Megan Marshall
September 25,
Literary Hub,
25 Sep. 2025
-
The change eliminated the former requirement that borrowers prove a partial financial hardship to qualify for IBR.—
Annie Nova,
CNBC,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The fear of a man with a single foot over a cliff edge.—
Lizz Schumer,
PEOPLE,
26 Sep. 2025
-
The Lexington community, still reeling from a 5-year-old’s death in a home explosion five months ago, is on edge after gas lines continue to get hit by companies installing fiber optic cables.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The monthlong celebration comes at a crucial time, as transgender youths continue to face mounting legislative attacks and social hostility nationwide.—
Duante Beddingfield,
Freep.com,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Police officers eventually began to line tee boxes as the weekend progressed, though that also did not assuage the hostility.—
Matt Moret,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Michael Thill and Elise Vinson, two nurses who were on the picket line Sunday, expressed their difficulty squaring their desire to help during the attack with their inability to work in the hospital amid the strike.—
Eric Levenson,
CNN Money,
30 Sep. 2025
-
The Bears’ first-half difficulties slowing Raiders star Maxx Crosby were significant.—
Dan Wiederer,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The rodents rarely carry rabies, though squirrel bites have been linked to the transmission of certain diseases to humans.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
25 Sep. 2025
-
Mosquito bites can cause a range of reactions, from mild redness and itching to blisters and bruise-like dark spots, depending on the person’s sensitivity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.—
Evan Moore,
Charlotte Observer,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
While VUMs require more testing to establish their true risks to public health, VOIs are explicitly confirmed to have genetic changes that affect virus characteristics like transmissibility and virulence.—
Jack Knudson,
Discover Magazine,
9 June 2025
-
The diminished virulence that the pathogen evolved in response to more of its hosts dying potentially caused these earlier plague pandemics to fizzle out.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
29 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Asperity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/asperity. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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