severely
Americanadverb
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in a very stern, strict, or harsh way.
One day he was caught taking a few pieces of scrap wood and was severely punished with two weeks of hard labor.
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to a grave, far-reaching, or critical degree; seriously.
Severely ill patients with kidney infections may be hospitalized until they can take fluids and medications on their own.
-
in a very simple, plain, or austere style or manner.
She wore her hair severely tied back in a ponytail and refused to wear anything feminine.
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in a very challenging or exacting way that is difficult to endure.
The Great Depression severely tested the parish, as the church building was almost lost to creditors.
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to a distressing or highly uncomfortable degree.
Much of North America experiences periods of severely cold weather and is susceptible to snow and ice storms.
Other Word Forms
- overseverely adverb
- superseverely adverb
- unseverely adverb
Etymology
Origin of severely
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.
Adjusting for inflation, that is the largest five-week increase since September 2005, when gasoline supplies were severely disrupted in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
Similarly, the memory-chip market is severely undersupplied, but manufacturers that were once reluctant to add capacity are now securing clean-room space.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026
Viewed in the halo glow of the tradwife’s ascendance, its version of empowerment is severely compromised.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026
In southern Lebanon, Israel's destruction of key bridges has left more than 150,000 people isolated and severely limited humanitarian access, said Lindholm Billing.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
Only Florida and Alabama allowed the jury's decision to be overridden by a judge—and Florida later put restrictions on the practice that severely curtailed it.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
