Synonyms of rasping

rasping 1 of 2

adjective

as in hoarse

harsh and dry in sound

a patient beset by a rasping cough from years of smoking

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hoarse
• gruff
• husky
• raspy
• throaty
• gravelly
• coarse
• rusty
• scratchy
• grating
• croaky
• gravel
• croaking
• guttural
• growling
• choked
• scraping
• scratching
• abrasive
• grinding
• strangled
• strained
• strident
• raucous
• rough
• cacophonous
• jarring
• discordant
• growly
• cracked
• screeching
• dissonant
• squawking
• unmusical
• cawing
• inharmonious
• unmelodious

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• gentle
• sweet
• liquid
• golden
• soothing
• mellifluous
• mellow
• smooth
• tender
• soft
• velvety
• silken
• gliding
• mellifluent
• musical
• satiny
• melodic
• melodious
• lyrical
• lyric
• euphonious

rasping

2 of 2

verb

present participle of rasp

1

as in rubbing

to make smooth by friction

after sawing the board in half, rasp the ends to remove any splinters

Synonyms & Similar Words

• rubbing
• grinding
• filing
• polishing
• scraping
• sanding
• sharpening
• honing
• buffing
• smoothing
• shining
• scouring
• planing
• sandblasting
• glossing
• burnishing
• edging
• regrinding
• stropping
• dressing
• whetting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• scuffing
• roughening
• roughing (up)
• coarsening

2

as in scratching

to pass roughly and noisily over or against a surface

the sound of fingernails rasping on the blackboard makes me cringe

Synonyms & Similar Words

• scratching
• scraping
• rubbing
• grinding
• grating
• groaning
• whining

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sliding
• gliding
• skating

3

as in annoying

to disturb the peace of mind of (someone) especially by repeated disagreeable acts

the two siblings seemed intent on rasping each other for the entire car trip

Synonyms & Similar Words

• annoying
• irritating
• bothering
• bugging
• persecuting
• grating
• aggravating
• getting
• eating
• nettling
• exasperating
• itching
• spiting
• ruffling
• griping
• worrying
• burning (up)
• teasing
• frosting
• chafing
• infuriating
• irking
• riling
• vexing
• galling
• hacking (off)
• wearing on
• getting to
• narking
• putting out
• peeving
• angering
• provoking
• insulting
• piquing
• rousing
• nagging
• plaguing
• harassing
• sticking in one's craw
• offending
• upsetting
• rubbing the wrong way
• getting on one's nerves
• harrying
• enraging
• hassling
• badgering
• getting one's goat
• heckling
• distressing
• setting one's teeth on edge
• disquieting
• unsettling
• agitating
• pestering
• discomforting
• maddening
• inflaming
• roiling
• antagonizing
• incensing
• rankling
• baiting
• perturbing
• unhinging
• fretting
• affronting
• undoing
• deviling
• exercising
• bullyragging
• outraging
• freaking (out)
• discomposing
• miffing
• hagriding

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• obliging
• placating
• satisfying
• pacifying
• gratifying
• appeasing
• pleasing
• conciliating
• reassuring
• delighting
• soothing
• mollifying
• comforting
• assuring
• propitiating
• cheering
• quieting
• consoling
• contenting
• gladdening
• solacing

4

as in eroding

to damage or diminish by continued friction

during the last ice age, glaciers rasped the surface, leaving the deeply scarred rock

Synonyms & Similar Words

• eroding
• wearing
• fraying
• rubbing
• scraping
• biting
• reducing
• abrading
• chafing
• shaving
• fretting
• galling
• filing
• sharpening
• eating
• gnawing
• chewing
• erasing
• grating
• corrading
• scuffing
• nibbling
• grazing
• sandblasting
• sandpapering
• scouring
• grinding
• disintegrating
• frazzling
• corroding
• decomposing
• wiping (away)
• wearing out
• dissolving
• honing
• whetting
• rubbing out
• breaking down
• breaking up

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of rasping

Verb

Yet Karter is utterly at ease behind the mic, rasping through a wistful melody with an unlit cigarette between her fingers, a black motorcycle jacket slipping off one shoulder. — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 6 July 2026

Thiaw paced, head bowed, arms crossed, as his Senegal players celebrated Gueye’s second rasping shot of the afternoon. — Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 26 June 2026

Koulibaly misjudged a clearance and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was unable to keep out substitute Marcus Pedersen’s rasping shot to give Norway the lead close to halftime. — Monica Alba, NBC news, 24 June 2026

The voice was faint and rasping, like the sound of pebbles raked by a wave. — Maggie O’Farrell, Literary Hub, 2 June 2026

When the beetle takes flight, the woman, who is busy unpacking, doesn’t realize for a moment that there’s something out of place about that rasping ruckus, that foreign hum. — María Ospina, The Dial, 31 Mar. 2026

Thrips have rasping, sucking mouthparts. — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 3 Mar. 2026

Negron, in particular, completely throws himself into it, rasping and howling and wailing out ad-libs. — Paul Grein, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019