extreme

American  

[ik-streem] / ɪkˈstrim /

adjective

extremer, extremest

1. of a character or kind farthest removed from the ordinary or average.

   extreme measures.

2. utmost or exceedingly great in degree.

   extreme joy.

   Synonyms:

   superlative

3. farthest from the center or middle; outermost; endmost.

   the extreme limits of a town.

   Synonyms:

   uttermost, last, ultimate

4. farthest, utmost, or very far in any direction.

   an object at the extreme point of vision.

5. exceeding the bounds of moderation.

   extreme fashions.

6. going to the utmost or very great lengths in action, habit, opinion, etc..

   an extreme conservative.

   Synonyms:

   unreasonable, uncompromising, fanatical, excessive, immoderate, extravagant

   Antonyms:

   moderate

7. last or final.

   extreme hopes.

8. Chiefly Sports. very dangerous or difficult.

   extreme skiing.

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noun

• extremes
  plural

1. the utmost or highest degree, or a very high degree.

   cautious to an extreme.

2. one of two things as remote or different from each other as possible.

   the extremes of joy and grief.

3. the furthest or utmost length; an excessive length, beyond the ordinary or average.

   extremes in dress.

4. an extreme act, measure, condition, etc..

   the extreme of poverty.

5. Mathematics.

   1. the first or the last term, as of a proportion or series.

   2. a relative maximum or relative minimum value of a function in a given region.

6. Logic. the subject or the predicate of the conclusion of a syllogism; either of two terms that are separated in the premises and brought together in the conclusion.

7. Archaic. the utmost point, or extremity, of something.

extreme British  

/ ɪkˈstriːm /

adjective

1. being of a high or of the highest degree or intensity

   extreme cold

   extreme difficulty

2. exceeding what is usual or reasonable; immoderate

   extreme behaviour

3. very strict, rigid, or severe; drastic

   an extreme measure

4. (prenominal) farthest or outermost in direction

   the extreme boundary

5. meteorol of, relating to, or characteristic of a continental climate

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noun

1. the highest or furthest degree (often in the phrases in the extreme, go to extremes )

2. (often plural) either of the two limits or ends of a scale or range of possibilities

   extremes of temperature

3. maths

   1. the first or last term of a series or a proportion

   2. a maximum or minimum value of a function

4. logic the subject or predicate of the conclusion of a syllogism

Synonym Usage

See radical.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• extremeness
  noun
• superextremeness
  noun
• overextreme
  adjective
• quasi-extreme
  adjective
• superextreme
  adjective
• unextreme
  adjective
• superextremely
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• extremes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of extreme

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Latin extrēmus “most outward,” superlative of exterus “outward”; see exterior

Explanation

Something extreme is far out, either in terms of distance or intensity. Extreme sports are wild or dangerous, and an extreme height is very high. When you talk about extreme things, you're talking about things that are very, very...something. An extreme point is the farthest distance from a place. Extreme eating is a type of contest — like hot dog-eating — in which people eat a freakish amount of food to compete with each other. An extreme biker is biking down dangerously steep mountain sides. Anything extreme is pushing the limits and taking things about as far as they can go.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

extreme extremes extremer extremest

Many journalists were especially outraged because of the extreme dangers faced by Mexican reporters, editors, columnists and photographers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

The video parodied extreme practices associated with the trend, like “bone smashing for facial symmetry,” before promoting lotion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Moreover, excessive speculation, much of it conducted with extreme leverage, led to violent selloffs during that time.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

Yet researchers have struggled for years to determine exactly how the material responds under such extreme conditions because laboratory measurements and computer simulations have produced conflicting results.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

I rose; I dressed myself with care: obliged to be plain—for I had no article of attire that was not made with extreme simplicity—I was still by nature solicitous to be neat.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

The challenge for brands is to acknowledge that development without endorsing the extremes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

As tai chi doesn’t push extremes, it may feel counterintuitive in Western culture; but that’s part of its power, Swanson says, likening tai chi to water.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

"Sceptical or not, the data shows that we are getting more extremes," Herd said.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

The tests were designed to verify that the company's sensors remain accurate across the temperature extremes they could encounter during descent to the lunar surface.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

In most patients, Type I diabetes spurs the appetite, sometimes to extremes.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Like them, his revolt against Romanism took an extremer form than Lutheranism, and after a temporary residence in Switzerland and at Strassburg, he arrived in England soon after Elizabeth's accession.

From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg

Hence the extremer Puritans were completely out of touch with the sensuous poetry of Christmas, a festival which, as we shall see, they actually suppressed when they came into power.

From Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan by Clement A. Miles

I reply that I took these extremer examples as yielding the profounder information.

From Varieties of Religious Experience, a Study in Human Nature by William James

We who have no vocation for the extremer ranges of sanctity will surely be let off at the last day if our humility, asceticism, and devoutness prove of a less convulsive sort.

From Varieties of Religious Experience, a Study in Human Nature by William James

It has as yet been practised by no poet at all approaching the first class, except Verlaine, and not by him in its extremer forms.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 2 "French Literature" to "Frost, William" by Various

The printing press, praised by Martin Luther as “God’s highest and extremest act of Grace,” led to the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation — and a century of bloody religious wars.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 20, 2016

Now even the extremest obscenities have lost their power to shock.

From The Guardian ● May 23, 2013

The President-elect said he hoped the ceremony would be "one of the extremest in simplicity that we have ever had."

From Time Magazine Archive

“There will never be such a thing in my house,” said Wang Lung, in extremest horror.

From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck

Gentlemen, It is currently reported that you are in the extremest anxiety respecting your standing with the good people of this Town and Province, as commissioners of the sale of the monopolized and dutied tea.

From The Loyalists of Massachusetts And the Other Side of the American Revolution by James H. Stark

Related Words

• absolute
• dire
• drastic
• egregious
• exaggerated
• exceptional
• excessive
• extraordinary
• harsh
• irrational
• outrageous
• radical
• remarkable
• severe
• sheer
• unreasonable
• unusual
• utter