severity

American  

[suh-ver-i-tee] / səˈvɛr ɪ ti /

noun

plural

severities

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

• nonseverity
  noun
• overseverity
  noun
• superseverity
  noun

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

Severity of the initial disease can’t perfectly predict the aftermath: debilitating symptoms have set in for people with mild initial infections.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2026

The Environmental Protection Agency said that in the lower 48 states from 1895-2020, “the overall trend has been toward wetter conditions,” citing the Palmer Drought Severity Index.

From Washington Times • Sep. 23, 2022

The scientists studied data from Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, a federal interagency program that tracks burn severity over time in the United States.

From Washington Post • Mar. 27, 2022

More than 42 percent of those using the heavy blanket scored low enough on the Insomnia Severity Index to be considered in remission from their sleep troubles, compared with 3.6 percent of the controls.

From New York Times • Oct. 13, 2020

A fresh Reason this for my Complaint of the Severity of my Destiny; for in reality I suffer'd such Pains for above twenty Days, as are impossible for me to express.

From The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume III Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts. by P?llnitz, Karl Ludwig von

Related Words

• harshness