austere
[ aw-steer ]
/ ɔˈstɪər /
|
adjective
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Nearby words
- austenite,
- austenitic,
- austenitic stainless steel,
- austenitize,
- auster,
- austerely,
- austerity,
- austerlitz,
- austin,
- austin flint murmur
Origin of austere
1300–50; Middle English (< Anglo-French) < Latin austērus < Greek austērós harsh, rough, bitter
Synonym study
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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for austerely
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
Word 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
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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austere
early 14c., from Old French austere (Modern French austère) and directly from Latin austerus "dry, harsh, sour, tart," from Greek austeros "bitter, harsh," especially "making the tongue dry" (originally used of fruits, wines), metaphorically "austere, harsh," from PIE *saus- "dry" (cf. Greek auos "dry," auein "to dry"). Use in English is figurative: "stern, severe, very simple." Related: Austerely.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper