severe
Americanadjective
-
harsh; unnecessarily extreme.
severe criticism; severe laws.
-
serious or stern in manner or appearance.
a severe face.
- Synonyms:
- grim, forbidding, dour, austere, punitive, draconian, rigorous, rigid, heavy-handed, strict
-
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
-
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
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.
Some students with severe anxiety can take the ACT over four days.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
People who have prediabetes, Type 2 diabetes or severe obesity, for example, tend to have lower GLP-1 than those who are metabolically healthy.
From MarketWatch • May 18, 2026
The most severe form of Legionella bacteria infection leads to Legionnaires’ disease, a serious and potentially deadly type of pneumonia, the CDC says.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
The UK's terrorism threat level was raised two weeks ago to the second-highest level of "severe", with security officials citing the "broader Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorist threat".
From Barron's • May 16, 2026
As the population expanded, Malthus reasoned, its resource pool would be depleted, and competition between individuals would grow severe.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
