Austere

Definition: Austere

Austere

Adjective

1. Severely simple; "a stark interior".

2. Of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect; "an austere expression"; "a stern face".

3. Practicing great self-denial; "Be systematically ascetic...do...something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it"- William James; "a desert nomad's austere life"; "a spartan diet"; "a spartan existence".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "austere" was first used: sometime in the early 14th century. (references)

Food & Agriculture

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Austere

Asceticism

Adjective: ascetic, austere, puritanical; cynical; over-religious; acerbic.

Discourtesy

Repulsive; uncomplaisant, unaccommodating, unneighborly, ungallant; inaffable; ungentle, ungainly; rough, rugged, bluff, blunt, gruff; churlish, boorish, bearish; brutal, brusque; stern, harsh, austere; cavalier.

Severity

Adjective: severe; strict, hard, harsh, dour, rigid, stiff, stern, rigorous, uncompromising, exacting, exigent, exigeant, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, austere, hard-headed, hard-nosed, hard-shell, relentless, Spartan, Draconian, stringent, strait-laced, searching, unsparing, iron-handed, peremptory, absolute, positive, arbitrary, imperative; coercive; tyrannical, extortionate, grinding, withering, oppressive, inquisitorial; inclement; (ruthless) a; cruel; (malevolent); haughty, arrogant; precisian.

Crosswords: Austere

Books

• Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture (reference)

• Conversations at Little Gidding 'On the retirement of Charles V.' 'On the austere life': (reference)

• The Austere Academy (Series of Unfortunate Events, 5) (reference)

• The Austere Landscape (reference)

• Thought and World : An Austere Portrayal of Truth, Reference, and Semantic Correspondence (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• Austere [EP] (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

The immaculate is there, austere to behold.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Economic History

Colombia

President Pastrana's economically orthodox recovery package included reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a $2.7 billion Extended Funds Facility, and passing austere budgets for 2000, 2001 and 2002. The IMF accord entailed commitments to achieve specific macro-economic targets and to seek structural reform legislation, including a reform of departmental (state-government equivalent) and municipal (county-government equivalent) pensions, a broader pension reform, a revenue-enhancing tax reform, and an amendment capping transfer payments to departmental and municipal governments currently mandated under the 1991 constitution. (references)

Human Rights

Bhutan

Prison conditions reportedly are adequate, if austere. (references)

Political Economy

Colombia

Since 1999 the Government has adopted fiscally austere budgets and floated the peso. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expressions using "austere": austere forbidding stern ♦ austere person. Additional references.

Beginning with "austere": austere-faced.

Albanian

i vrerët (dismal, gloomy), i vrazhdë (abrupt, bad tempered, boeotian, boorish, brutal, brutish, churlish, clownish, coarse, crude, discordant, dissonant, earthy, fretful, grave, gross, hard, hard-fisted, harsh, heavy-handed, ill natured, low-bred, morose, murky, robustious, rough, rough spoken, rude, scurrilous, severe, stern, sullen, surly, truculent, uncivil, unfinished, unhandsome, unmannerly), i thjeshtë (abecedarian, artless, bare, chaste, childlike, common, easy, elementary, enlisted, folksy, foolproof, Hick, home-bred, homely, homespun, humble, inelaborate, informal, ingenuous, inornate, mere, modest, native, natural, neat, not mingled, onefold, ordinary, plain, prime, primitive, private, pure, quotidian, rude, russet, rustic, simple, unaffected, unassuming, unceremonious, unpretending, unpretentious, unsophisticated, very), i rreptë (hard, hard and fast, iron-handed, raucous, rigorous, severe, slashing, strict, stringent, tough, unkind, unmerciful, unrelenting), i ashpër (argute, biting, bluff, bluffy, Brant, bristly, brusque, churlish, coarse, crude, ding-dong, dour, draconian, draconic, gravelly, grim, gruff, hard, harsh, ill, ill natured, inclement, keen, malevolent, pipy, raucous, rigid, rigorous, rough, rough and ready, rude, savage, scabrous, scathing, scratchy, severe, shaggy, slashing, smart, stern, strict, tough, truculent, uncharitable, unkind, unmerciful, violent, wiry). (various references)

Arabic 

‏متقشف (ascetic), ‏متزمت (pi, prim, puritan, puritanical, rigid, rigorous, severe, stick in the mud, strict), ‏قاسي (drastic, hard, hard and fast, hard bitten, harsh, rough, rugged, severe, sharp, slashing, stern, stony, strait, strict, stringent, tough, unyielding), ‏قاس (callous, concrete, cruel, cutthroat, drastic, firm, gauge, hard, hard-hearted, harsh, inclement, inflexible, measure, merciless, pitiless, relentless, rigid, rigorous, rough, rugged, ruthless, scale, severe, solid, standardize, stark, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, tape, tough, try on, unfeeling, unkind, unyielding), ‏عارعن كل زينة, ‏عابس (gloomy, grouchy, loiterer, morose, stern, sulky, surly), ‏صارم (astringent, disciplinary, dour, driving, exact, extreme, fast, firm, hard, hard and fast, hardheaded, inclement, puritan, ramrod, rigid, rigorous, rugged, searching, severe, sharp, stark, stern, stiff, strait, strict, stringent, swingeing, tight, tough, unrelenting, violent), ‏بسيط جدا. (various references)

Bulgarian 

суров (coarse, crude, dour, draconian, flinty, green, grim, hard, harsh, iron, iron-bound, raw, rigorous, rough, rude, rugged, severe, smart, stiff, uncharitable, uncooked, uncouth, unpitying, unseasoned), строг (astringent, censorious, close, firm, grim, hard, hard and fast, hard-grained, hardhanded, ironclad, narrow, religious, rigid, rigorous, rugged, severe, sinewy, stern, straitlaced, strict, stringent, taut, unaffable, uncharitable), неукрасен (grave, inornate, simple, unadorned, undecked, unenlivened, unvarnished), непреклонен (adamant, adamantine, cast iron, implacable, inexorable, inexpiable, inflexible, iron-bound, ironclad, relentless, rigid, rigorous, rugged, stern, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding), неприветлив (chilly, cold, forbidding, grim, stern, unaffable, unapproachable, ungracious, wintry), аскетичен (ascetic), пуритански (priggish, puritan, puritanic, puritanical, round-headed, square-toed, straitlaced). (various references)

Chinese 

严肃 (Austereness, Austerities, Austerity, serious, severity, sombre). (various references)

Czech

asketický (ascetic), vážný (dangerous, earnest, good, grave, major, mellow, pensive, portly, serious, solemn, solid, stern, straight, strong, wistful), strohý (abrupt, brusque, curt, gruff, stark), prostý (chaste, coarse, frugal, homely, naked, plain, rustic, simple, single, sober, unaffected, unpretentious, unsophisticated, unworldly, vulgar), přísný (exacting, firm, hard, harsh, heavy, nice, rigid, rigorous, severe, sharp, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, strong, tough, uncharitable). (various references)

Farsi 

تیره رنگ (Dingy), تندوتلخ (Poignant), ریاضت کش (Ascetic). (various references)

French

austère, simple, sévère, obscur. (various references)

German

entsagend (abdicating), streng (absolute, absolutely, astringent, draconic, exacting, exigent, forbidding, hardly, harsh, heavy, intense, iron, pungent, rigid, rigorous, severe, severely, sour, stern, sternly, stiff, strict, strictly, stringent, stringently, tangy), ernst (astringent, earnest, earnestly, earnestness, firmly, grave, gravelly, gravely, gravity, heaviness, heavy, important, pensive, serious, seriously, seriousness, severe, severeness, severity, sincere, sober, solemn, solemnity, solemnly, staid, stern, sternly, sternness, unsmiling). (various references)

Greek 

λιτόσ (frugal, spare, terse, thrifty), απέριττοσ (chaste, plain), αυστηρόσ (censorious, crucial, disciplinarian, puritanic, puritanical, rigorous, severe, stern, strict, stringent). (various references)

Hebrew 

קפ�"� י (exact, meticulous, pedantic, punctilious, rigorous, stern, strait laced, strict, stringent, thorough), חמור (ass, burro, critical, donkey, drastic, grave, jackass, moke, serious, severe, stern, strict, stringent). (various references)

Hungarian

zord (boisterous, boreal, dour, grim, gruff, inclement, mirthless, raw, rigorous, rough, rugged, stern), szigorúan egyszerű, szigorú (censorious, dour, exacting, hard and fast, harsh, inclement, meagre, poser, religious, rigid, rigorous, rugged, severe, strait, strict, stringent), szerzetesi (monacal, monastic, monkish, religious), spártai (lacedaemonian, Spartan), savanykás (acidulated, foxy), puritán (puritan, puritanic, puritanical, severe), mérsékletes, kesernyés (acrimonious, bitterish, tart), fanyar (acerbic, acid, acrid, acrimonious, crusty, dry, frumpish, harsh, sour, tart), dísztelen (bald, inornate, severe, undecked, undressed), barátságtalan (chilly, cold, crabby, disagreeable, disgruntled, doggish, gaunt, gruff, ill natured, inhospitable, pouty, rugged, sulky, sullen, surly, unaccommodating, unaffable, unfriendly, unkind), aszkéta (ascetic), önmegtartóztató (abstinent, continent, self denying, self-denying). (various references)

Indonesian

sederhana (artless, frugal, homely, humble, plain, simple, temperate, unostentatious, unpretentious). (various references)

Italian

austero (grave, stern, stiff). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

厳か (awful, dignified, impressive, majestic, stately). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

お�"そか (awful, dignified, impressive, majestic, stately), きびしい (grave, intense, majestic, relentless, rigid, severe, solemn, stern, strict, unsparing), いかめしい (grave, intense, majestic, severe, solemn, stern, strict). (various references)

Korean 

엄한. (various references)

Manx

geyre (abrupt, acrid, acute, bitter, bold, bold promintary, censorious, cutting, discerning, edged, hard, high-pitched, incisive, knifelike, penetrating, piercing, poignant, pointed, pungent, quick of sight, sharp, sour, stiff, strict, stringent, twinging), garg (acrid, bitter, brusque, harsh, pungent, tuneless), chionn (busy, delicate, erect, erect as penis, fast, firm, firmly, hard-pressed, hardy, inflated, speedy, stiff, stuck fast, taut, tense, tight-fitting), chenjagh (exactor, extortionate, extortioner, oppressor, tyrant). (various references)

Pig Latin

austereay

Portuguese

austero (budge, grim, hard-faced, hard-grained, rugged, severe, stern, strict), severo (bad, bitter, blue, censorious, close, closet, cornered, dour, grim, grueling, gruelling, hard, hard-faced, hard-grained, harsh, inclement, iron-bound, joggly, keen, pointed, relentless, rigid, rigorous, rough, rugged, scathing, severe, smart, squint-eyed, stern, stiff, strait, straitlaced, strict, stringent), sóbrio (abstemious, abstinent, frugal, restrained, sober, staid, temperate, terse), sério (abstemious, convinced, demure, earnest, fair, important, respectable, sedate, serious, severe, single-eyed, single-minded, sober, solemn, staid, stern, straight, straightaway, straightforward, temperate, thoughtful), rigoroso (close, harsh, inclement, mathematical, rigorous, rigourous, rude, searching, severe, stiff, strait, straitlaced, strict, stringent), ácido (acetous, acid, sharp, sour). (various references)

Romanian

auster (severe), ascetic (ascetic), sobru (abstemious, abstinent, severe, sober, soberly, sparing, temperate, temperately), simplu (agrestic, artless, average, bald, bare, common, easy, elementary, grave, home-bred, homely, homespun, humble, humbly, mere, modest, natural, neat, patriarchal, plain, plainly, primitive, pure, quiet, ready, russet, segregate, simple, simple minded, simply, single, singular, soft-headed, straight, straightforward, unaffected, unassuming, undisguised, unpretending, unpretentious, unsophisticated, unvarnished), sever (close, dour, drastic, exacting, firm, frowning, grim, hard, harsh, keen, narrow, rigid, rigidly, rigorous, rugged, severe, stern, Strait, strict, unrelenting), grav (bad, badly, critical, grave, gravely, grievously, important, low, low-pitched, matronal, serious, solemn, stern, weighty). (various references)

Russian 

строгий (astringent, censorious, chaste, dour, hard, harsh, rigorous, severe, stern, straitlaced, strict, stringent, taut, unaffable). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

strog (dour, exacting, finical, finicking, firm, grim, rigid, severe, stern, stiff, strait, strict, stringent), opor (pungent, sec, sharp, tart), oštar (acidulous, acrid, acrimonious, argute, biting, brisk, brusque, cutting, keen, piercing, racy, scathing, sharp, sharp cut, strident, strong, trenchant, twang). (various references)

Spanish

austero (astringent, dour, grim, severe, stern). (various references)

Swedish

sträng (astringent, chaste, chord, dour, grueling, gruelling, hard, harsh, inclement, intemperate, rigorous, severe, strict, string, swath, unbending, wire), allvarlig (earnest, grave, major, serious, severe, staid, weighty). (various references)

Thai

เคร่งครั�" (blue, ironhanded), ไม่หรูหรา. (various references)

Turkish

ağırbaşlı (calm, demure, dignified, earnest, graceful, grand, imperturbable, matronly, only, sage, sedate, serious, sober, sober minded, solemn, staid), sert (acrid, adamant, astringent, bad, bitter, boisterous, bossy, brisk, brutal, cast iron, crusty, cutting, drastic, exact, exacting, fierce, firm, flinty, forbidding, get-tough, granitic, grim, gruff, gusty, hard, hard and fast, hard bitten, hard line, hard set, hardening, hard-hitting, harsh, heady, heavy, heavy-handed, hot, ill natured, inclement, incompressible, inelastic, intemperate, iron, ironclad, keen, nappy, pointed, pungent, rigid, rigorous, rough, round, sclerous, severe, sharp, sharp-set, short, short-spoken, shrewd, smart, solid, sound, spanking, spartan, spiky, stand up, starched, starchy, stark, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, strong, surly, tart, tough, unbending, ungentle, unkind, unrelenting, unshaded, unyielding, vehement, violent), sade (artless, bald, bare, chaste, frugal, frugally, homely, homespun, just, mere, merely, only, plain, pure, rustic, severe, simple, simplificative, sober, stark, unadorned, unmixed, unsophisticated), süssüz (plain, unadorned, undecked, unvarnished), hoşgörüsüz (adamant, exacting, illiberal, impatient, intolerant, strict, uncomplaisant), haşin (crusty, forbidding, harsh, inclement, rough, rude, severe, stern, truculent), ciddi (businesslike, capital, critical, demure, devout, earnest, eventful, forbidding, grave, gut, important, momentous, mortally, sedate, serious, sober, sober minded, solemn, staid, starched, unsmiling). (various references)

Ukrainian

суворий (arctic, astringent, censorious, dour, grueling, gruelling, hard, hard-faced, inclement, iron, rigid, rigorous, severe, stern, straitlaced, stringent, surly), строгий (classical), чистий (absolute, blank, bright, chaste, childlike, clean, cleanly, clear, crystal, immaculate, native, neat, net, pristine, pure, silvery, spotless, unadulterated, unalloyed, unsophisticated, virginal, white), точний (accurate, business-like, careful, clean-cut, clockwork, definite, definitive, exact, explicit, mathematical, nice, perfect, pointed, positive, precise, punctual, rigorous, specific, strict, trustworthy, truthful, unerring), терпкий (acerb, acerbic, tart), гіркий (bitter, brutal), простий (artless, babyish, bald, bare, childlike, mere, onefold, ordinary, plain, primary, prime, run of the mill, shirt-sleeve, simple, stateless, straightforward, unaffected, unartful, unceremonious, unsophisticated). (various references)

Vietnamese 

nghiêm khắc (astringent, hard, hardly, rigorous, slashing), khắt khe (rigorous), chặt chẽ mộc mạc, chân phương khắc khổ. (various references)

Welsh

tost (acute, bitter, ill, severe, sharp, sick, sore), llym (acute, keen, severe, sharp), gerwin (harsh, rough, severe), caled (arduous, dry, hard, harsh, severe). (various references)

austeros. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations

Words beginning with "austere": austerely, austereness, austerenesses, austerer, austerest. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Austere" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Aalstreep, astere, Asteri, astero, asture, Auchenree, auetere, aunswere, auntre, Ausperg, austeer, austerer, austerie, austero, austers, austier, austire, austre, austrere, auteer, autre, auttori, aystere. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: aretes, easter, eaters, reseat, reseau, retuse, seater, teaser, urates, urease.

-2 letters: arete, aster, aures, eater, erase, ester, rates, reest, reset, reuse, saree, saute, setae, stare, steer, stere, sutra, tares, tears, tease, terse, trees, trues, urase, urate, ureas, ursae.

-3 letters: ares, arse, arts, ates, ears, ease, east, eats, eras, erst, etas, rase, rate, rats.

+1 letter: austerer, features, resalute, sauterne, secateur, treasure.

+2 letters: apertures, austerely, austerest, cauteries, creatures, denatures, depurates, eructates, estuaries, estuarine, exhauster, laureates, numerates, perfusate, reductase, regulates, renatures, resaluted, resalutes, sauntered, saunterer, sauternes, secateurs, sequestra, superheat, treasured, treasurer, treasures, ulcerates, uncreates, undereats, urethanes.

+3 letters: adulterers, adulteress, adulteries, adventures, anestruses, augmenters, banqueters, barquettes, calentures, cauterizes, centaureas, centauries, chartreuse, cofeatures, curettages, defaulters, defeatures, departures, deuterates, elutriates, enraptures, entourages, enumerates, equestrian, eucaryotes, eukaryotes, eutherians, exhausters, expurgates, extraneous, exuberates, guarantees, hereabouts, lusterware, maumetries, menstruate, mercurates, neutralise, outreaches, outwearies, pasteurise, pasteurize, perfusates, prelatures, prematures, quartettes, readjusted, recaptures, reductases, reeducates, reluctates, repudiates, requiescat, resupinate, revaluates, saunterers, squattered, superagent, superheats, superstate, supertaxes, textuaries, treasurers, treasuries, tutelaries, ultradense, unclearest, underrates, understate, undertakes, undertaxes, unreadiest, unsteadier, unwreathes, utterances.