Wiktionary:Word of the day/2025/July 5

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asperity n (formal)

(uncountable) 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. (countable, geology) 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. (figurative) (uncountable) The quality of being difficult or unpleasant to experience; (countable) a thing that is harsh and difficult to endure; a difficulty, a hardship. (uncountable) 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. (uncountable, archaic) Of sound: gratingness, harshness. Of taste: harshness or sharpness; acridity, tartness. Of writing: a lack of elegance and refinement; inelegance, roughness.

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