severe
harsh; unnecessarily extreme: severe criticism; severe laws.
serious or stern in manner or appearance: a severe face.
threatening a seriously bad outcome or involving serious issues; grave: a severe illness.
rigidly restrained in style, taste, manner, etc.; simple, plain, or austere.
causing discomfort or distress by extreme character or conditions, as weather, cold, or heat; unpleasantly violent, as rain or wind, or a blow or shock.
difficult to endure, perform, fulfill, etc.: a severe test of his powers.
rigidly exact, accurate, or methodical: severe standards.
Origin of severe
1synonym study For severe
Other words for severe
Opposites for severe
Other words from severe
- se·vere·ly, adverb
- se·vere·ness, noun
- o·ver·se·vere, adjective
- o·ver·se·vere·ness, noun
- su·per·se·vere, adjective
- su·per·se·vere·ness, noun
- un·se·vere, adjective
- un·se·vere·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use severe in a sentence
As might be expected in this severer form of mental disturbance, heredity plays an especially important part in circular insanity.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine | Austin MalleyOf course, even in severer forms of epilepsy, mental disturbances do not appear at once.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine | Austin MalleySeverer forms of the affliction are readily recognised and the sufferer is properly restrained.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine | Austin MalleyParanoia, at least in its severer forms, completely justifies the plea of irresponsibility for actions committed.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine | Austin MalleyAs the pressure of the time becomes severer, more of these unfit come into evidence.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine | Austin Malley
British Dictionary definitions for severe
/ (sɪˈvɪə) /
rigorous or harsh in the treatment of others; strict: a severe parent
serious in appearance or manner; stern
critical or dangerous: a severe illness
causing misery or discomfort by its harshness: severe weather
strictly restrained in appearance; austere: a severe way of dressing
hard to endure, perform, or accomplish: a severe test
rigidly precise or exact
Origin of severe
1Derived forms of severe
- severely, adverb
- severeness or severity (sɪˈvɛrɪtɪ), 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
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