austere
Americanadjective
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severe in manner or appearance; uncompromising; strict; forbidding.
an austere teacher.
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rigorously self-disciplined and severely moral; ascetic; abstinent.
the austere quality of life in the convent.
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grave; sober; solemn; serious.
an austere manner.
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without excess, luxury, or ease; simple; limited; severe.
an austere life.
- Antonyms:
- sybaritic, lush, comfortable, luxurious
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severely simple; without ornament.
austere writing.
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rough to the taste; sour or harsh in flavor.
adjective
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stern or severe in attitude or manner
an austere schoolmaster
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grave, sober, or serious
an austere expression
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self-disciplined, abstemious, or ascetic
an austere life
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severely simple or plain
an austere design
Usage
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.
Synonym Usage
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 Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of austere
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin austērus, from Greek austērós “harsh, rough, bitter”
Explanation
The adjective austere is used to describe something or someone stern or without any decoration. You wouldn't want someone to describe you or your home as austere. Austere is not usually a positive word because it means that a person or a thing isn't pleasurable. For example, if you go on an austere diet, it's likely you wouldn't ever get to have candy. The adjective comes into English by way of French, Latin, and Greek, meaning "harsh" and "dry." It's pronounced as "ah-STEER," with an emphasis on the second syllable.
Vocabulary lists containing austere
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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.
The next step is bolstering the reliability of communications and data integration systems so AI-powered weaponry can actually help human fighters out in remote and austere conditions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
The term "artificial intelligence" was born in 1956 at an austere summer workshop at Dartmouth College.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Chief among the "fossils", in the eyes of some of the soldiers who responded to our requests, is Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the austere 60-year-old commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
The emperor appeared less distant and austere than expected, and the reports contained far fewer hostile references to groups such as the Sikhs than Faruqui had anticipated.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
“Consider,” Father Monaghan says, “that you are going to an austere cloister, a Carmel, where Christ awaits you.”
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
