ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsAasperity
ISEE/SSAThard
asperity
Meaning: harshness in manner, tone, or conditions
asperity in a sentence
How asperity is used in real sentences:
The coach spoke with asperity after the team ignored his instructions.
The judge's asperity made even simple questions sound like accusations.
“At morning reviews, her brusque questions sometimes carried an asperity that made interns hesitate, especially when a graph lacked error bars.”
— from the passage The Returning Hinge
““Judgments are not souvenirs we exchange,” Voss said with an asperity that made Mara flinch.”
— from the passage The Weight of Fifteen Years
“His restraint might have seemed admirable if he had not inspected everyone else's plate with such asperity that even Aunt Lena set down her fork.”
— from the passage The Empty Chair
Synonyms for asperity
Other words for asperity — harshness, severity and roughness — carry the same meaning.
- harshness
- severity
- roughness
Antonyms of asperity
Words that mean the opposite of asperity:
- gentleness
- mildness
- softness
Where it comes from
From Latin asper, meaning 'rough.'
Memory hook
ASPERITY begins like 'asp,' a snake with a harsh bite.