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, 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

Other Word Forms

• austerely adverb
• austereness noun
• unaustere adjective
• unausterely 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

What struck settlers as barren and hostile became austere and beautiful to tourists.

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Saudi Arabia is the cradle of the austere Sunni doctrine known as Wahhabism, which embraces a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Read more on Barron's

The music, most of it from the early 17th century, is more austere, demanding concentration and contemplation.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Sandee Althouse walked into a Silver Lake gift shop dressed in an almost austere, simple black dress, her curly black hair graying at the temples.

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The victory he cites, as documented even by the austere Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2021, was only over a bad, propagandistic forecast that was never rooted in the science in the first place.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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

When To Use

What does austere mean?

Austere most commonly means extremely stern or strict or without any frills or luxuries.Things that are described as austere are serious, harsh, or severely simple.The word is especially used to describe a state of extreme self-discipline or minimalistic living, such as the austere conditions in a monastery. Think of a monk who lives in a bedroom with only a metal cot and eats plain rice every day—that’s an austere lifestyle.The noun form of austere is austerity—the state of being austere.Example: You can’t expect people to cope with such austere conditions—they need more than the bare necessities.