âpre

See also: apre and aprè

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French aspre, from Old French aspre, from Latin asper, according to the TLFi, an early borrowing. Compare Italian aspro, Spanish and Portuguese áspero.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /apʁ/, /ɑpʁ/

• Audio

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• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

Adjective

âpre (plural âpres)

1. acrid, pungent, bitter
2. (voice) harsh
3. (figurative) rough, fierce, harsh
   • 1640, Pierre Corneille, Horace, act 2, scene 3:

     Cette âpre vertu ne m’était pas connue

     This harsh virtue was not known to me

   • 2012, Fabienne Loodts, Chloe Aridjis, Le livre des nuages, Warum?, →ISBN:

     Le lendemain, c’était un dimanche, ce qui renforçait mon besoin de sortir et remplir les heures. Après cinq ans dans cette ville, je n’avais pas encore rencontré quelqu’un avec qui passer les jours, ces jours que je préfère le moins, où la solitude se fait plus âpre.

     The next day was a Sunday, which deepened my need to leave the house, to somehow fill the hours. After five years in this city, I had still not met someone that I could pass my days with—these days that I liked least, when loneliness was bitterer.

Derived terms

• âprement

Further reading

• “âpre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• pare, paré, râpe, râpé

Norman

Etymology

From Old French aspre, from Latin asper, possibly a borrowing.

Adjective

âpre m or f

1. (Jersey) bright

Derived terms

• âprément (“brightly”)