His personality was shrouded by a veil of coarseness and bluntness.

veil 的本义是"面纱、头巾"，在这里用作比喻，表示"遮蔽物、掩饰物"。在比喻用法中常指"掩盖真相或本质的事物"。 a veil of 这个短语表示"一层...的掩饰/遮蔽"，用来形容某种特质像面纱一样遮盖了真实情况。