austere

[ aw-steer ]

adjective

1. severe in manner or appearance; uncompromising; strict; forbidding:

   an austere teacher.

2. rigorously self-disciplined and severely moral; ascetic; abstinent:

   the austere quality of life in the convent.

3. grave; sober; solemn; serious:

   an austere manner.

4. without excess, luxury, or ease; simple; limited; severe:

   an austere life.

   Antonyms: sybaritic, lush, comfortable, luxurious

5. severely simple; without ornament:

   austere writing.

6. rough to the taste; sour or harsh in flavor.

austere

/ ɒˈstɪə /

adjective

1. stern or severe in attitude or manner

   an austere schoolmaster

2. grave, sober, or serious

   an austere expression

3. self-disciplined, abstemious, or ascetic

   an austere life

4. severely simple or plain

   an austere design

Derived Forms

• ausˈtereness, noun
• ausˈterely, adverb

Other Words From

• aus·terely adverb
• aus·tereness noun
• unaus·tere adjective
• unaus·terely adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of austere¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin austērus, from Greek austērós “harsh, rough, bitter”

Word History and Origins

Origin of austere¹

C14: from Old French austère, from Latin austērus sour, from Greek austēros astringent; related to Greek hauein to dry

Synonym Study

Austere, bleak, spartan, stark all suggest lack of ornament or adornment and of a feeling of comfort or warmth. Austere usually implies a purposeful avoidance of luxury or ease: simple, stripped-down, austere surroundings. Bleak adds a sense of forbidding coldness, hopelessness, depression: a bleak, dreary, windswept plain. Spartan, somewhat more forceful than austere, implies stern discipline and rigorous, even harsh, avoidance of all that is not strictly functional: a life of Spartan simplicity. Stark shares with bleak a sense of grimness and desolation: the stark cliff face.

Example Sentences

Il voyait, sans le moindre ressentiment, la figure austère de son père, conservateur des hypothèques.

From Project Gutenberg

Round, rosy, potelée, she yet had not the temperament of her appearance; she was a femme austère—I made up my mind to that.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• exacting
• forbidding
• formal
• rigid
• sober
• somber
• stringent