The Only Use of
asperity
in
The Scarlet Letter
- "Hold thy tongue, naughty child!" answered her mother, with an asperity that she had never permitted to herself before.†
p. 168.9
Definitions:
-
(1)
(asperity) harshness of manner
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
In physics or geology, asperity can refer to a region of contact between two surfaces under pressure.