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PlainSpell

asperity

as·per·i·ty/əˈspɛɹɪti/noun

asperity is spelled A-S-P-E-R-I-T-Y: 8 letters and 4 syllables (as·per·i·ty). It appears about once in every 42 million words in written English, the 199,120th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, asperity means “The quality of having a rough or uneven surface; roughness, unevenness; (countable, chiefly in the plural) a protruding or rough area or point on a…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of asperity is asperities.

How many letters and syllables are in asperity?

Letters8: A-S-P-E-R-I-T-Y
Syllables4: as·per·i·ty
In writingabout once in every 42 million words; the 199,120th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is asperity?

Asperity appears about once in every 42 million words in written English, the 199,120th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce asperity?

  • UK /əˈspɛɹɪti/
  • US /əˈspɛɹɪti/
  • US [-ɾi]

Asperity has 4 syllables, split as·per·i·ty in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-asperity.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with asperity?

6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as asperity from its last stressed vowel (/ɛɹɪti/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of asperity

  • asperities plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does asperity mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The quality of having a rough or uneven surface; roughness, unevenness; (countable, chiefly in the plural) a protruding or rough area or point on a surface; a protrusion.

  2. 2

    A section of a fault line with high friction, such that there is no movement along this part of the fault except during an earthquake.

  3. 3

    The quality of being difficult or unpleasant to experience; (countable) a thing that is harsh and difficult to endure; a difficulty, a hardship.

    the asperity of Maine’s winter

  4. 4

    The quality of being harsh or severe in the way one behaves or speaks toward another person; (countable, chiefly in the plural) a deeply hostile or resentful feeling; an animosity, a hatred.

  5. 5

    archaicOf sound: gratingness, harshness.

  6. 6

    archaicOf taste: harshness or sharpness; acridity, tartness.

  7. 7

    archaicOf writing: a lack of elegance and refinement; inelegance, roughness.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Asperity in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchaspérité (quality of having a rough or uneven surface…)
Portugueseaspereza, asperidade (quality of having a rough or uneven surface…)
Spanishaspereza (quality of having a rough or uneven surface…), asperidad (quality of being harsh or severe in the way one…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does asperity come from?

From Middle English asprete, asperite, from Old French aspreté (modern French âpreté), from Latin asperitātem, the accusative singular of asperitās (“roughness, unevenness; fierceness, severity; harshness, sharpness; acidity, tartness”), from asper (“coarse, rough, uneven; bitter, fierce harsh; rude, unrefined; etc.”) (probably from Proto-Indo-European *h₂esp- (“to cut”)) + -itās (a variant of -tās (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns indicating a state of being)). The spelling of the English word is influenced directly by Latin asperitātem. Doublet of asperitas.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after asperity