Asperity
Definition: roughness, either of a physical surface or in manner
As a description of human behavior, this means to handle rigorously – to question, to interrogate, to be skeptical, to require proof, etc. An arresting and questioning police offer handles someone with asperity – your Mom doesn’t.
Why I Looked It Up
From Monsters:
I noticed a certain…asperity about so-called cancel culture when it came up in online recovery circles, especially the edgier, crankier online recovery circles inhabited by young former drug users, rather than middle-aged, middle-class former drinkers like myself.