austere
[ aw-steer ]
/ ɔˈstɪər /
adjective
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Origin of austere
1300–50; Middle English (< Anglo-French) < Latin austērus < Greek austērós harsh, rough, bitter
ANTONYMS FOR austere
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.
OTHER WORDS FROM austere
aus·tere·ly, adverbaus·tere·ness, nounun·aus·tere, adjectiveun·aus·tere·ly, adverbWords nearby austere
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for austere
British Dictionary definitions for austere
austere
/ (ɒˈstɪə) /
adjective
stern or severe in attitude or manneran austere schoolmaster
grave, sober, or seriousan austere expression
self-disciplined, abstemious, or ascetican austere life
severely simple or plainan austere design
Derived forms of austere
austerely, adverbaustereness, nounWord Origin for austere
C14: from Old French austère, from Latin austērus sour, from Greek austēros astringent; related to Greek hauein to dry
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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