asperity
- noun
- /əˈspɛrɪti/
- Formal
:
dureza
- The asperity of life in the Arctic tests even the strongest explorers.
Examples
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They struggled to survive the asperity of the harsh winter.
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Despite the asperity of her circumstances, she remained determined to succeed.
-
The asperity of the winter made it hard to travel.
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She spoke with great asperity during the meeting.
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The hikers struggled against the asperity of the steep mountain trail.
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Many people find the asperity of winter in northern regions quite challenging.
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The asperity of the old building's facade made it difficult to renovate.
Synonyms
128
3.4
A time of serious difficulty, often with little money or food
49
5.1
The level of how bad or serious something is
24
8.1
Harsh physical or mental conditions that are hard to bear
17
4.2
A feeling of discomfort or dislike
2
6.7
A harsh, unpleasant quality that makes people feel afraid or worried
2
3.5
A strong unpleasant effect that hurts the senses
How strong and harmful something is, like pain or bad weather
Very bad weather that makes outdoor plans difficult
Being very harsh and hard for people or things to endure
A quality that makes pain or trouble very hard to stand
Antonyms
Idioms
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
asperity = asper (opaque) = asper + ity
The formation uses the suffix '-ity' on a non-productive stem; learners are unlikely to infer 'harshness of conditions' from the stem alone.
Etymology
Asperity comes from the Latin word asper, which means 'rough' or 'harsh'. That root tells us it is about 'roughness', so asperity can describe severe weather or hard life that is difficult to endure.