extreme
Americanadjective
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of a character or kind farthest removed from the ordinary or average.
extreme measures.
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utmost or exceedingly great in degree.
extreme joy.
- Synonyms:
- superlative
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farthest from the center or middle; outermost; endmost.
the extreme limits of a town.
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farthest, utmost, or very far in any direction.
an object at the extreme point of vision.
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exceeding the bounds of moderation.
extreme fashions.
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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
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last or final.
extreme hopes.
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Chiefly Sports. very dangerous or difficult.
extreme skiing.
noun
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the utmost or highest degree, or a very high degree.
cautious to an extreme.
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one of two things as remote or different from each other as possible.
the extremes of joy and grief.
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the furthest or utmost length; an excessive length, beyond the ordinary or average.
extremes in dress.
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an extreme act, measure, condition, etc..
the extreme of poverty.
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Mathematics.
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the first or the last term, as of a proportion or series.
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a relative maximum or relative minimum value of a function in a given region.
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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.
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Archaic. the utmost point, or extremity, of something.
adjective
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being of a high or of the highest degree or intensity
extreme cold
extreme difficulty
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exceeding what is usual or reasonable; immoderate
extreme behaviour
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very strict, rigid, or severe; drastic
an extreme measure
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(prenominal) farthest or outermost in direction
the extreme boundary
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meteorol of, relating to, or characteristic of a continental climate
noun
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the highest or furthest degree (often in the phrases in the extreme, go to extremes )
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(often plural) either of the two limits or ends of a scale or range of possibilities
extremes of temperature
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maths
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the first or last term of a series or a proportion
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a maximum or minimum value of a function
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logic the subject or predicate of the conclusion of a syllogism
Synonym Usage
See radical.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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extremenessnoun
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superextremenessnoun
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overextremeadjective
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quasi-extremeadjective
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superextremeadjective
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unextremeadjective
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superextremelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
Vocabulary lists containing extreme
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That’s something you’ve taken to even more of an extreme in “Her Private Hell.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
State officials dispute that, saying bears are euthanized only in extreme circumstances such as after they’ve hurt someone or committed repeated break-ins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
France has been battered by three heatwaves since May as part of increasingly common extreme weather episodes linked to climate change, causing excess deaths, drying up rivers and fuelling wildfires.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
His devices, which contained evidence of his extreme views, were seized after he was arrested in February and September but not analysed.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
There was a tendency, in markets and life, for people to respond to the possibility of extreme events in one of two ways: flight or fight.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
"They're different. What is exceptional to us isn't to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal."
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
That dynamic is taken to extremes on her debut album, “Ultra”, released June 6.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
The determining factor between these two extremes is Max Verstappen.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
For the extremes, you could compare claiming as soon as you are eligible with waiting as long as possible to maximize Social Security — age 62 versus age 70.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
Growing up in Baton Rouge, it was a crowded house, full of clamor and extremes.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
As the necessity for severity decreases, severity even in social disapproval must lessen; as the individual comes to yield more readily and promptly to a slight spur, extremer methods will be discarded.
From A Review of the Systems of Ethics Founded on the Theory of Evolution by Williams, C. M.
The extremer the physical effort, the greater the strain on the inner or moral powers.
From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Park, Robert Ezra
In other respects anarchism may be said to be but an extremer phase of socialism.
From Contemporary Socialism by Rae, John
For such persons as Lydia it has added dignity and joy to a woman's life, without the fever and disorganization which attend its extremer forms.
From The Mating of Lydia by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
We who have no vocation for the extremer ranges of sanctity will surely be let off at the last day if our humility, asceticism, and devoutness prove of a less convulsive sort.
From Varieties of Religious Experience, a Study in Human Nature by James, William
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
Gentlemen, It is currently reported that you are in the extremest anxiety respecting your standing with the good people of this Town and Province, as commissioners of the sale of the monopolized and dutied tea.
From The Loyalists of Massachusetts And the Other Side of the American Revolution by Stark, James H.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
