See Also: asperity(dictionary)
asperity(dictionary)

asperity (iou)



asperity noun. ME.
[Old & mod. French asperite or Latin asperitas, from asper rough, harsh: see -ITY.]
Hardship; rigour, severity. arch. ME.
Henry More To..minysh the vygour and asperite of the paynes. S. Johnson The nakedness and asperity of the wintry world.
Harshness to any of the senses; roughness, ruggedness; hardness. arch. LME.
Caxton Fewe people wente for to see him, for the grete asprete or sharpnesse of the place. G. Berkeley The asperity of tartarous salts. S. Johnson Our language, of which the chief defect is ruggedness and asperity.
b. A rough excrescence. arch. M17.
J. Lindley Almost all Delimace? have the leaves covered with asperities.
Harshness or sharpness of temper, esp. as displayed in tone or manner; bitterness, acrimony; in pl., embittered feelings. M17.
Dickens Demanded with much asperity what she meant. H. Wilson Intervening also to soften asperities and curb the invocation of personalities.