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austere - 4 dictionary results
aus⋅tere
[aw-steer] 
–adjective
| 1. | severe in manner or appearance; uncompromising; strict; forbidding: an austere teacher. |
| 2. | rigorously self-disciplined and severely moral; ascetic; abstinent: the austere quality of life in the convent. |
| 3. | grave; sober; solemn; serious: an austere manner. |
| 4. | without excess, luxury, or ease; simple; limited; severe: an austere life. |
| 5. | severely simple; without ornament: austere writing. |
| 6. | lacking softness; hard: an austere bed of straw. |
| 7. | rough to the taste; sour or harsh in flavor. |
Origin:
1300–50; ME (< AF) < L austērus < Gk austērós harsh, rough, bitter
1300–50; ME (< AF) < L austērus < Gk austērós harsh, rough, bitter
Related forms:
aus⋅tere⋅ly, adverb
aus⋅tere⋅ness, noun
Synonyms:
4. Austere, bleak, spartan, stark all suggest lack of ornament or adornment and of a feeling of comfort or warmth. Austere usually implies a purposeful avoidance of luxury or ease: simple, stripped-down, austere surroundings. Bleak adds a sense of forbidding coldness, hopelessness, depression: a bleak, dreary, windswept plain. Spartan, somewhat more forceful than austere, implies stern discipline and rigorous, even harsh, avoidance of all that is not strictly functional: a life of Spartan simplicity. Stark shares with bleak a sense of grimness and desolation: the stark cliff face.
4. Austere, bleak, spartan, stark all suggest lack of ornament or adornment and of a feeling of comfort or warmth. Austere usually implies a purposeful avoidance of luxury or ease: simple, stripped-down, austere surroundings. Bleak adds a sense of forbidding coldness, hopelessness, depression: a bleak, dreary, windswept plain. Spartan, somewhat more forceful than austere, implies stern discipline and rigorous, even harsh, avoidance of all that is not strictly functional: a life of Spartan simplicity. Stark shares with bleak a sense of grimness and desolation: the stark cliff face.
Antonyms:
4. luxurious, comfortable, lush; sybaritic.
4. luxurious, comfortable, lush; sybaritic.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To austere
| aus·tere (ô-stîr') adj. aus·ter·er, aus·ter·est
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin austērus, from Greek austēros.] aus·tere'ly adv., aus·tere'ness n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Austere
Aus*tere"\, [F. aust[`e]re, L. austerus, fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to parch, dry. Cf. Sear.]1. Sour and astringent; rough to the state; having acerbity; as, an austere crab apple; austere wine. 2. Severe in modes of judging, or living, or acting; rigid; rigorous; stern; as, an austere man, look, life. From whom the austere Etrurian virtue rose. --Dryden. 3. Unadorned; unembellished; severely simple. Syn: Harsh; sour; rough; rigid; stern; severe; rigorous; strict.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : austere
Spanish:
austero,
German:
streng,
Japanese:
質素な
austere
1330, from L. austerus "dry, harsh, sour, tart," from Gk. austeros "bitter, harsh," especially "making the tongue dry" (originally used of fruits, wines), related to auos "dry." Use in Eng. is figurative. Austerity is 1590 as "severe self-discipline;" 1875 as "severe simplicity." Applied during WWII to national policies limiting non-essentials as a wartime economy.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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