severity
Americannoun
plural
severities-
harshness, sternness, or rigor.
Their lives were marked by severity.
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austere simplicity, as of style, manner, or taste.
The severity of the decor was striking.
-
intensity or sharpness, as of cold or pain.
-
grievousness; hard or trying character or effect.
The severity of his loss was finally becoming apparent.
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rigid exactness or accuracy.
-
an instance of strict or severe behavior, punishment, etc.
Other Word Forms
- nonseverity noun
- overseverity noun
- superseverity noun
Etymology
Origin of severity
First recorded in 1475–85; from Latin sevēritās, from sevēr(us) severe + -itās -ity
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 survey explored both how the participants perceived the nature and severity of the risk regarding Social Security, Medicare and fiscal policy, and how they might act to hedge the risk.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 27, 2026
Investors gauging the energy squeeze’s severity might want a second opinion.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
The severity of seemingly mundane, everyday anxieties — school bullies, the prom, graduation, obnoxious Cher-obsessed college roommates — is on par with demons trying to hasten the apocalypse.
From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026
Symptom severity was also similar in both groups.
From Science Daily • Mar. 15, 2026
Sociologists have frequently observed that governments use punishment primarily as a tool of social control, and thus the extent or severity of punishment is often unrelated to actual crime patterns.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
