severe
Americanadjective
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harsh; unnecessarily extreme.
severe criticism; severe laws.
-
serious or stern in manner or appearance.
a severe face.
-
threatening a seriously bad outcome or involving serious issues; grave.
a severe illness.
-
rigidly restrained in style, taste, manner, etc.; simple, plain, or austere.
-
causing discomfort or distress by extreme character or conditions, as weather, cold, or heat; unpleasantly violent, as rain or wind, or a blow or shock.
-
difficult to endure, perform, fulfill, etc..
a severe test of his powers.
-
rigidly exact, accurate, or methodical.
severe standards.
- Antonyms:
- facile, effortless, easy
adjective
-
rigorous or harsh in the treatment of others; strict
a severe parent
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serious in appearance or manner; stern
-
critical or dangerous
a severe illness
-
causing misery or discomfort by its harshness
severe weather
-
strictly restrained in appearance; austere
a severe way of dressing
-
hard to endure, perform, or accomplish
a severe test
-
rigidly precise or exact
Related Words
See stern 1.
Other Word Forms
- oversevere adjective
- oversevereness noun
- severely adverb
- severeness noun
- supersevere adjective
- supersevereness noun
- unsevere adjective
- unsevereness noun
Etymology
Origin of severe
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin sevērus, or back formation from severity
Explanation
Whether you're talking about a punishment, the weather, or how bad your flu is, severe indicates that it's at the limit of the spectrum. The austerity of a word like severe serves many purposes. The common usage is to describe tough or painful stuff, like icy snowstorms, merciless punishments, or grim conditions (e.g., a severe depression). If things are severe, they're serious. Severe could also describe a person's haircut if it's brutally short and angular, or their wardrobe if it tends to be all black with no flourishes.
Vocabulary lists containing severe
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 3
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 4
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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 war, however, had a less severe impact on inflation than economists anticipated.
From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026
In both Vietnam and Myanmar, shortages have been so severe that airlines have slashed operations, while foreign carriers have added fuel stops outside those countries to ensure they can fly back out.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
The frequency and cost of climate-influenced disasters, including severe storms, drought and flooding, continues to mount — between $350 billion and $450 billion in each of the last three years — stretching government budgets.
From Salon • Apr. 10, 2026
“Our most significant accomplishment was restoring our health plan to a sustainable path after facing severe pressure from industry contraction and runaway healthcare cost inflation.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
The air felt like it did before a severe thunderstorm: alive with unimaginable power.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Definitions 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.
