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asperity

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
as·per·i·ty  (-spr-t)
n. pl. as·per·i·ties
1.
a. Roughness or harshness, as of surface, sound, or climate: the asperity of northern winters.
b. Severity; rigor.
2. A slight projection from a surface; a point or bump.
3. Harshness of manner; ill temper or irritability.

[Middle English asperite, from Old French asprete, from Latin asperits, from asper, rough.]

asperity [æˈspɛrɪtɪ]
n pl -ties
1. roughness or sharpness of temper
2. roughness or harshness of a surface, sound, taste, etc.
3. a condition hard to endure; affliction
4. (Physics / General Physics) Physics the elastically compressed region of contact between two surfaces caused by the normal force
[from Latin asperitās, from asper rough]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.asperity - something hard to endure; "the asperity of northern winters"
difficultness, difficulty - the quality of being difficult; "they agreed about the difficulty of the climb"
sternness - the quality (as of scenery) being grim and gloomy and forbidding; "the sternness of his surroundings made him uncomfortable"
2.asperity - harshness of manner
ill nature - a disagreeable, irritable, or malevolent disposition

asperity
Translations
asperity [æsˈperɪtɪ] Naspereza f
asperity [æˈspɛrɪti] (formal) n (= sharpness) with asperity → sèchement
asperity
nSchroffheit f no pl, → Schärfe f no pl; the asperities of the winter (liter)der raue Winter (geh)
asperity [æˈspɛrɪtɪ] n (frm) (of manners, voice) → asprezza


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Thus by a judicious exercise of tact and asperity we re-established the atmospheric equilibrium of the room long before I left them a little before midnight, now tenderly reconciled, to walk down to the harbour and hail the Tremolino by the usual soft whistle from the edge of the quay.
While I acknowledge the success of the present work to have been greater than I anticipated, and the praises it has elicited from a few kind critics to have been greater than it deserved, I must also admit that from some other quarters it has been censured with an asperity which I was as little prepared to expect, and which my judgment, as well as my feelings, assures me is more bitter than just.
I hesitate not to submit it to the decision of any candid and honest adversary of the proposed government, whether language can furnish epithets of too much asperity, for so shameless and so prostitute an attempt to impose on the citizens of America.
 
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