[n] excessive sternness; "severity of character"; "the harshness of his punishment was inhuman"; "the rigors of boot camp"
[n] something hard to endure; "the asperity of northern winters"
[n] used of the degree of something undesirable e.g. pain or weather
Synonyms
asperity, badness, grimness, hardness, hardship, harshness, inclemency, rigor, rigorousness, rigour, stiffness