Skip to content

asprezza

harshness, bitterness

noun ahs-PRET-tsah Rare

Origin: From Latin asperitas, from asper (rough).

Also means

roughness (of texture or terrain)

Usage Note

Asprezza covers both physical roughness (the harshness of a surface or terrain) and abstract sharpness of tone, flavour, or character. Parlare con asprezza means to speak harshly. The source adjective is aspro (harsh, sour, rough). It should not be confused with amarezza (bitterness born of disappointment).

Examples

"La sua asprezza nel rispondere sorprese tutti."

Natural Translation

The harshness of his reply surprised everyone.

Literal Translation

The his harshness in the replying surprised everyone.

Explore Italian by topic