Word to the Wise: Asperity

“Asperity” (as-PARE-uh-tee) – from the Latin for “rough” – means harsh or severe.

Example (as used by Lord Berners in A Distant Prospect): “Many years later, when I was sketching in Rome, a grim-looking Englishwoman came up to me and said with some asperity, ‘I see you are painting MY view.’”

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