severity

American  

[suh-ver-i-tee] / səˈvɛr ɪ ti /

noun

• severities
  plural

1. harshness, sternness, or rigor.

   Their lives were marked by severity.

2. austere simplicity, as of style, manner, or taste.

   The severity of the decor was striking.

3. intensity or sharpness, as of cold or pain.

4. grievousness; hard or trying character or effect.

   The severity of his loss was finally becoming apparent.

5. rigid exactness or accuracy.

6. an instance of strict or severe behavior, punishment, etc.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonseverity
  noun
• overseverity
  noun
• superseverity
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• severities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of severity

First recorded in 1475–85; from Latin sevēritās, from sevēr(us) severe + -itās -ity

Explanation

Severity is a plain, no-frills hardness––or the degree of hardness. You might talk about the severity of the northern winter, or the severity of your grandfather's discipline. Severity, with its root in severe, has several nuances. It can mean a hardship, like war’s severity. It also refers to an extreme plainness. Think of the severity of Amish life: no phones, cars, or other modern technology. And you might use it to describe your math teacher’s manner: his severity is indicated by his short, clipped sentences, angry stare, and propensity to fail students without mercy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

severity severities

She was worried at first that viewers would be put off by Alice’s severity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Stephenson said the climbers were all "pretty experienced" European nationals who appeared to have been caught off-guard by the severity of the weather.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

It found that, in some fire-prone ecosystems, protected areas experience larger burned areas and higher fire severity than comparable unprotected forests, largely associated with greater fuel loads and reduced accessibility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

As the strategists explained, the severity of July losses for those hedge funds “raises questions” about a risk-management framework that allowed concentrated positions in chip/memory stocks to build up.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

She’d been too young back then to truly appreciate the severity of things like terms and conditions, and only after Baba had died had the terrible reality shown its true face.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

War risk cover is organised in seven "buckets" spanning different severities of conflict.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2025

It follows hundreds of asthma patients of different ages, sexes, and disease severities.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2023

In an untreated forest, what some might see as fuel, others “see as incredible habitat for wildlife because it’s a mosaic of different burn severities that is extraordinarily biodiverse.”

From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2022

He said Kazimir was accused of the lowest of three severities of crime in Slovakia’s penal code that is punishable by up to five years in prison, but gave no details of the case.

From Reuters ● Oct. 13, 2021

He knew about as much as was known about the anatomy of the brain and the symptoms and severities of lesion and thrombus.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• harshness