Adjacent Words

Severe definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SEVE'RE, a. [L. severus.]
1. Rigid; harsh; not mild or indulgent; as severe words; severe treatment; severe wrath.
2. Sharp; hard rigorous.
Let your zeal-be more severe against thyself than against others. Taylor.
3. Very strict; or sometimes perhaps, unreasonably strict or exact; giving no indulgence to faults or errors; as severe government; severe criticism.
4. Rigorous, perhaps cruel; as severe punishment; severe justice.
5. Grave; sober; sedate to an extreme; opposed to cheerful, gay, light, lively.
Your looks must alter, as your subject does,
From kind to fierce, from wanton to severe. Waller.
6. Rigidly exact; strictly methodical; not lax or airy. I will not venture on on so nice a subject with my severe style.
7. Sharp; afflictive; distressing; violent; as severe pain, anguish, torture, etc.
8. Sharp; biting; extreme; as severe cold.
9. Close; concise; not luxuriant.
The Latin, a most severe and compendious language- Dryden.
10. Exact; critical; nice; as a sever test.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality; "severe pain"; "a severe case of flu"; "a terrible cough"; "under wicked fire from the enemy's guns"; "a wicked cough" [syn: severe, terrible, wicked]
2: very strong or vigorous; "strong winds"; "a hard left to the chin"; "a knockout punch"; "a severe blow" [syn: hard, knockout, severe]
3: severely simple; "a stark interior" [syn: austere, severe, stark, stern]
4: unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or judgment; "a parent severe to the pitch of hostility"- H.G.Wells; "a hefty six-footer with a rather severe mien"; "a strict disciplinarian"; "a Spartan upbringing" [syn: severe, spartan]
5: causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm; "a dangerous operation"; "a grave situation"; "a grave illness"; "grievous bodily harm"; "a serious wound"; "a serious turn of events"; "a severe case of pneumonia"; "a life-threatening disease" [syn: dangerous, grave, grievous, serious, severe, life-threatening]
6: very bad in degree or extent; "a severe worldwide depression"; "the house suffered severe damage"

Merriam Webster's

adjective (severer; -est) Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin severus Date: 1548 1. a. strict in judgment, discipline, or government b. of a strict or stern bearing or manner ; austere 2. rigorous in restraint, punishment, or requirement ; stringent, restrictive 3. strongly critical or condemnatory ; censorious <a severe critic> 4. a. maintaining a scrupulously exacting standard of behavior or self-discipline b. establishing exacting standards of accuracy and integrity in intellectual processes <a severe logician> 5. sober or restrained in decoration or manner ; plain <a severe dress> 6. a. inflicting physical discomfort or hardship ; harsh <severe winters> b. inflicting pain or distress ; grievous <a severe wound> 7. requiring great effort ; arduous <a severe test> 8. of a great degree ; serious <severe depression> • severely adverb • severeness noun • severity noun Synonyms: severe, stern, austere, ascetic mean given to or marked by strict discipline and firm restraint. severe implies standards enforced without indulgence or laxity and may suggest harshness <severe military discipline>. stern stresses inflexibility and inexorability of temper or character <stern arbiters of public morality>. austere stresses absence of warmth, color, or feeling and may apply to rigorous restraint, simplicity, or self-denial <living an austere life in the country>. ascetic implies abstention from pleasure and comfort or self-indulgence as spiritual discipline <the ascetic life of the monks>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 rigorous, strict, and harsh in attitude or treatment (a severe critic; severe discipline). 2 serious, critical (a severe shortage). 3 vehement or forceful (a severe storm). 4 extreme (in an unpleasant quality) (a severe winter; severe cold). 5 arduous or exacting; making great demands on energy, skill, etc. (severe competition). 6 unadorned; plain in style (severe dress). Derivatives: severely adv. severity n. Etymology: F sévère or L severus

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Severe Se*vere", a. [Compar. Severer; superl. Severest.] [L. severus; perhaps akin to Gr. ??? awe, ??? revered, holy, solemn, Goth. swikns innocent, chaste: cf. F. s['e]v[`e]re. Cf. Asseverate, Persevere.] 1. Serious in feeeling or manner; sedate; grave; austere; not light, lively, or cheerful. Your looks alter, as your subject does, From kind to fierce, from wanton to severe. --Waller. 2. Very strict in judgment, discipline, or government; harsh; not mild or indulgent; rigorous; as, severe criticism; severe punishment. ``Custody severe.'' --Milton. Come! you are too severe a moraler. --Shak. Let your zeal, if it must be expressed in anger, be always more severe against thyself than against others. --Jer. Taylor. 3. Rigidly methodical, or adherent to rule or principle; exactly conformed to a standard; not allowing or employing unneccessary ornament, amplification, etc.; strict; -- said of style, argument, etc. ``Restrained by reason and severe principles.'' --Jer. Taylor. The Latin, a most severe and compendious language. --Dryden. 4. Sharp; afflictive; distressing; violent; extreme; as, severe pain, anguish, fortune; severe cold. 5. Difficult to be endured; exact; critical; rigorous; as, a severe test. Syn: Strict; grave; austere; stern; morose; rigid; exact; rigorous; hard; rough; harsh; censorious; tart; acrimonious; sarcastic; satirical; cutting; biting; keen; bitter; cruel. See Strict. -- Se*vere"ly, adv. -- Se*vere"ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(severer, severest) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. You use severe to indicate that something bad or undesirable is great or intense. ...a business with severe cash flow problems... Steve passed out on the floor and woke up blinded and in severe pain... Shortages of professional staff are very severe in some places. ADJ • severely The UN wants to send food aid to 10 countries in Africa severely affected by the drought... An aircraft overshot the runway and was severely damaged. ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj • severity Several drugs are used to lessen the severity of the symptoms. N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp 2. Severe punishments or criticisms are very strong or harsh. This was a dreadful crime and a severe sentence is necessary... ADJ • severely ...a campaign to try to change the law to punish dangerous drivers more severely. ADV: ADV with v • severity The Bishop said he was sickened by the severity of the sentence... N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Rigid, stern, strict, sharp, harsh, bitter, austere, rigorous, stiff, strait-laced, hard, unrelenting, relentless, inexorable, peremptory, censorious, cruel, bitter, morose. 2. Strict, exact, accurate, methodical. 3. Simple, plain, unadorned, chaste. 4. Caustic, satirical, sarcastic, keen, cutting, stinging, biting, sharp, harsh, bitter, cruel, trenchant. 5. Distressing, afflictive, acute, violent, extreme, intense, sharp. 6. Serious, earnest, sedate, grave, austere, sober. 7. Exact, critical, rigorous, hard.

Moby Thesaurus

Draconian, Herculean, Siberian, Spartan, Spartanic, abrupt, absolute, absolutist, absolutistic, abstruse, acerbic, acid, acidulous, acrid, acrimonious, acute, afflictive, aggressive, agonizing, algid, aloof, arbitrary, arctic, arduous, aristocratic, arrogant, ascetic, asperous, astringent, atrocious, austere, authoritarian, authoritative, autocratic, awful, badly, bald, bare, basic, bearish, beastly, below zero, biting, bitter, bitterly cold, bleak, blistering, bluff, blunt, blustering, blustery, boreal, bossy, brash, brisk, brumal, brusque, brutal, burdensome, candid, caustic, cavalier, chaste, churlish, close, cold, cold as charity, cold as death, cold as ice, cold as marble, common, commonplace, complex, constant, cramping, crimpy, crisp, critical, crude, cruel, crusty, curt, cutting, dangerous, delicate, demanding, despotic, dictatorial, difficile, difficult, dire, direct, disagreeable, disciplined, distressing, domineering, double-edged, dour, drastic, dreadful, dry, dull, edged, effortful, elementary, escharotic, essential, even, exact, exacting, excessive, excruciating, exigent, exorbitant, express, extravagant, extreme, faithful, fastidious, fatal, feudal, fierce, fine, flinty, forbidding, formidable, frank, freezing, freezing cold, frigid, fundamental, furious, gelid, glacial, glowering, gnawing, grave, gravely, great, grievous, grim, grinding, griping, gruff, hairy, hard, hard-earned, hard-fought, hardly, harrowing, harsh, harshly, heavy, heavy-handed, hibernal, hiemal, high-handed, homely, homespun, homogeneous, hostile, hurtful, hurting, hyperborean, ice-cold, ice-encrusted, icelike, icy, immoderate, imperative, imperial, imperious, incisive, inclement, indivisible, inerrable, inerrant, inexorable, infallible, inflexible, inhospitable, inhuman, inornate, intemperate, intense, intensely, intricate, iron-willed, irreducible, irritating, jawbreaking, keen, knotted, knotty, laborious, lean, lordly, magisterial, magistral, markedly, masterful, mathematical, matter-of-fact, mean, merciless, mere, meticulous, micrometrically precise, microscopic, modest, monastic, monocratic, monolithic, mordacious, mordant, mortal, mortified, natural, neat, nice, nipping, nippy, no picnic, nose-tickling, not easy, numbing, obdurate, of a piece, onerous, open, operose, oppressive, outrageous, overbearing, overruling, painful, painfully, painstaking, paroxysmal, penetrating, peremptory, piercing, pinching, pinpoint, piquant, pitiless, plain, plain-speaking, plain-spoken, poignant, precise, primal, primary, primitive, prosaic, prosing, prosy, pungent, punishing, punitive, pure, pure and simple, racking, raw, refined, relentless, religious, religiously exact, repressive, restrictive, rigid, rigorous, rigorously, rough, roughly, rugged, rustic, ruthless, savage, scathing, scientific, scientifically exact, self-disciplined, serious, set with thorns, severe, severely, sharp, shooting, short, simon-pure, simple, simple-speaking, single, sleety, slushy, smart, snappy, snippy, sober, sore, sour, spare, sparse, spasmatic, spasmic, spasmodic, spiny, splitting, square, stabbing, stark, steep, stern, stiff, stinging, stone-cold, stony, stormy, straightforward, strait-laced, strenuous, strict, strident, stringent, subtle, subzero, supercooled, suppressive, surly, tart, taxing, terminal, thorny, ticklish, toilsome, tormenting, torturous, tough, trenchant, tricky, truculent, turbulent, tyrannical, tyrannous, unadorned, unaffected, unbending, uncluttered, uncompromising, unconscionable, undecorated, undeviating, undifferenced, undifferentiated, unelaborate, unembellished, unerring, unfancy, unfeeling, unfussy, ungentle, uniform, unimaginative, unornate, unpleasant, unpoetical, unsmiling, unsparing, unsympathetic, unvarnished, unyielding, uphill, vehement, venomous, violent, virulent, vitriolic, weighty, wicked, winterbound, winterlike, wintery, wintry