extreme

American  

[ik-streem] / ɪkˈstrim /

adjective

extremer, extremest

1. of a character or kind farthest removed from the ordinary or average.

   extreme measures.

2. utmost or exceedingly great in degree.

   extreme joy.

   Synonyms:

   superlative

3. farthest from the center or middle; outermost; endmost.

   the extreme limits of a town.

   Synonyms:

   uttermost, last, ultimate

4. farthest, utmost, or very far in any direction.

   an object at the extreme point of vision.

5. exceeding the bounds of moderation.

   extreme fashions.

6. going to the utmost or very great lengths in action, habit, opinion, etc..

   an extreme conservative.

   Synonyms:

   unreasonable, uncompromising, fanatical, excessive, immoderate, extravagant

   Antonyms:

   moderate

7. last or final.

   extreme hopes.

8. Chiefly Sports. very dangerous or difficult.

   extreme skiing.

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noun

• extremes
  plural

1. the utmost or highest degree, or a very high degree.

   cautious to an extreme.

2. one of two things as remote or different from each other as possible.

   the extremes of joy and grief.

3. the furthest or utmost length; an excessive length, beyond the ordinary or average.

   extremes in dress.

4. an extreme act, measure, condition, etc..

   the extreme of poverty.

5. Mathematics.

   1. the first or the last term, as of a proportion or series.

   2. a relative maximum or relative minimum value of a function in a given region.

6. Logic. the subject or the predicate of the conclusion of a syllogism; either of two terms that are separated in the premises and brought together in the conclusion.

7. Archaic. the utmost point, or extremity, of something.

extreme British  

/ ɪkˈstriːm /

adjective

1. being of a high or of the highest degree or intensity

   extreme cold

   extreme difficulty

2. exceeding what is usual or reasonable; immoderate

   extreme behaviour

3. very strict, rigid, or severe; drastic

   an extreme measure

4. (prenominal) farthest or outermost in direction

   the extreme boundary

5. meteorol of, relating to, or characteristic of a continental climate

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noun

1. the highest or furthest degree (often in the phrases in the extreme, go to extremes )

2. (often plural) either of the two limits or ends of a scale or range of possibilities

   extremes of temperature

3. maths

   1. the first or last term of a series or a proportion

   2. a maximum or minimum value of a function

4. logic the subject or predicate of the conclusion of a syllogism

Synonym Usage

See radical.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• extremeness
  noun
• superextremeness
  noun
• overextreme
  adjective
• quasi-extreme
  adjective
• superextreme
  adjective
• unextreme
  adjective
• superextremely
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• extremes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of extreme

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Latin extrēmus “most outward,” superlative of exterus “outward”; see exterior

Explanation

Something extreme is far out, either in terms of distance or intensity. Extreme sports are wild or dangerous, and an extreme height is very high. When you talk about extreme things, you're talking about things that are very, very...something. An extreme point is the farthest distance from a place. Extreme eating is a type of contest — like hot dog-eating — in which people eat a freakish amount of food to compete with each other. An extreme biker is biking down dangerously steep mountain sides. Anything extreme is pushing the limits and taking things about as far as they can go.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

extreme extremes extremer extremest

In extreme situations, Chin said, it helps to think objectively about the difference between real risk and perceived risk.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

"It is an opportunity to have a front-row seat to the most extreme forces of the Universe and discover more of its secrets."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

The company pointed to Matthews reacting with "extreme scepticism and disbelief" to the idea of a person solely consuming Huel.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

But, as Stone makes clear in her video content, her definition of liking or even loving a husband is both laborious and ascetic to an extreme.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

These teenagers were growing up in a time of extreme change, tossed about as the social order danced beneath their feet.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

"She went to the extremes, really, to get the feeling and the emotion I went through and the struggle."

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

Ayer pushes the emotional and physical extremes and it feels like a dirge: a forced march through the muddy Alaskan wilderness with plenty of body horror on top.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

The nearly weeklong event takes place on a sun-blasted, nearly six-square-mile patch of a 200-mile Pleistocene-era lakebed in Nevada, and is a place of extremes, with very cold nights and hot days.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

Such weather extremes may have caused queens to abandon their nests or die, reducing the initial spring queen bounty to a more modest population.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

And nowhere else have people living at such heights—in places where most crops won’t grow, earthquakes and landslides are frequent, and extremes of weather are the norm—repeatedly created technically advanced, long-lasting civilizations.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Theosophy in its extremer forms it cannot absorb at all.

From Modern Religious Cults and Movements by Gaius Glenn Atkins

Like them, his revolt against Romanism took an extremer form than Lutheranism, and after a temporary residence in Switzerland and at Strassburg, he arrived in England soon after Elizabeth's accession.

From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg

She had addressed the president, partly from his office, his comparatively extreme age—he must have been at least thirty!—and possibly for his extremer good looks.

From Openings in the Old Trail by Bret Harte

It has as yet been practised by no poet at all approaching the first class, except Verlaine, and not by him in its extremer forms.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 2 "French Literature" to "Frost, William" by Various

A sharp check from the public authority generally brings out to the front this extremer element in German socialism.

From Contemporary Socialism by John Rae

The printing press, praised by Martin Luther as “God’s highest and extremest act of Grace,” led to the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation — and a century of bloody religious wars.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 20, 2016

Now even the extremest obscenities have lost their power to shock.

From The Guardian ● May 23, 2013

The President-elect said he hoped the ceremony would be "one of the extremest in simplicity that we have ever had."

From Time Magazine Archive

“There will never be such a thing in my house,” said Wang Lung, in extremest horror.

From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck

Some new means of supply must be discovered, and the extremest extension of ecclesiastical centralization and papal absolutism has always been recognised at Rome as the most productive source of revenue.

From Letters From Rome on the Council by Johann Joseph Ignaz von D?llinger

Related Words

• absolute
• dire
• drastic
• egregious
• exaggerated
• exceptional
• excessive
• extraordinary
• harsh
• irrational
• outrageous
• radical
• remarkable
• severe
• sheer
• unreasonable
• unusual
• utter