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severe

[suh-veer]
adjective, se·ver·er, se·ver·est.
  1. harsh; unnecessarily extreme: severe criticism; severe laws.
  2. serious or stern in manner or appearance: a severe face.
  3. grave; critical: a severe illness.
  4. rigidly restrained in style, taste, manner, etc.; simple, plain, or austere.
  5. 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.
  6. difficult to endure, perform, fulfill, etc.: a severe test of his powers.
  7. rigidly exact, accurate, or methodical: severe standards.
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Origin of severe

1540–50; < Latin sevērus, or back formation from severity
Related formsse·vere·ly, adverbse·vere·ness, nouno·ver·se·vere, adjectiveo·ver·se·vere·ly, adverbo·ver·se·vere·ness, nounsu·per·se·vere, adjectivesu·per·se·vere·ly, adverbsu·per·se·vere·ness, nounun·se·vere, adjectiveun·se·vere·ly, adverbun·se·vere·ness, noun

Synonyms for severe

2. strict, hard. See stern1. 4. unadorned. 7. demanding, exacting.

Antonyms for severe

1. lenient. 2. gentle.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for severer

serious, relentless, harsh, strict, heavy, acute, drastic, stringent, tough, punishing, dangerous, violent, fierce, sharp, bitter, intense, extreme, astringent, austere, biting

Examples from the Web for severer

Historical Examples of severer

  • Many a severer sarcasm would not have cut so deeply into me.

    That Boy Of Norcott's

    Charles James Lever

  • They must not be suffered to interfere with your severer studies.

  • Nor in her poverty does she refuse the severer labors of the garden and the field.

    Life of Schamyl

    John Milton Mackie

  • Sometimes I think it is my fault; I was born in a severer age.

    White Lies

    Charles Reade

  • But this was evidently only a prelude to a severer rehearsal.

British Dictionary definitions for severer

severe

adjective
  1. rigorous or harsh in the treatment of others; stricta severe parent
  2. serious in appearance or manner; stern
  3. critical or dangerousa severe illness
  4. causing misery or discomfort by its harshnesssevere weather
  5. strictly restrained in appearance; austerea severe way of dressing
  6. hard to endure, perform, or accomplisha severe test
  7. rigidly precise or exact
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Derived Formsseverely, adverbsevereness or severity (sɪˈvɛrɪtɪ), noun

Word Origin for severe

C16: from Latin sevērus
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for severer

severe

adj.

1540s, from Middle French severe (12c., Modern French sévère) or directly from Latin severus "serious, grave, strict, austere" (see severity). From 1660s with reference to styles or tastes; from 1725 of diseases.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper