austere

[ aw-steer ]
See synonyms for austere on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. grave; sober; solemn; serious: an austere manner.

  2. without excess, luxury, or ease; simple; limited; severe: an austere life.

  3. severely simple; without ornament: austere writing.

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

Origin of austere

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin austērus, from Greek austērós “harsh, rough, bitter”

synonym study For austere

4. 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.

Opposites for austere

Other words from austere

  • aus·tere·ly, adverb
  • aus·tere·ness, noun
  • un·aus·tere, adjective
  • un·aus·tere·ly, adverb

Words Nearby austere

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use austere in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for austere

austere

/ (ɒˈstɪə) /


adjective
  1. stern or severe in attitude or manner: an austere schoolmaster

  2. grave, sober, or serious: an austere expression

  1. self-disciplined, abstemious, or ascetic: an austere life

  2. severely simple or plain: an austere design

Origin of austere

1
C14: from Old French austère, from Latin austērus sour, from Greek austēros astringent; related to Greek hauein to dry

Derived forms of austere

  • austerely, adverb
  • austereness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012