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austerity - 3 dictionary results

aus⋅ter⋅i⋅ty

  [aw-ster-i-tee]
Use austerity in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ties.
1. austere quality; severity of manner, life, etc.; sternness.
2. Usually, austerities. ascetic practices: austerities of monastery life.
3. strict economy.
Origin:
1300–50; ME austerite < AF, OF austerite < L austēritās. See austere, -ity

Synonyms:
1. harshness, strictness, asceticism, rigor. 2. See hardship.

Antonyms:
1. leniency.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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aus·ter·i·ty   (ô-stěr'ĭ-tē)   
n.   pl. aus·ter·i·ties
  1. The quality of being austere.
  2. Severe and rigid economy: wartime austerity.
  3. An austere habit or practice.
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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Austerity

Aus*ter"i*ty\, n.; pl. Austerities. [F. aust['e]rit['e], L. austerias, fr. austerus. See Austere.]

1. Sourness and harshness to the taste. [Obs.] --Horsley.

2. Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.

The austerity of John the Baptist. --Milton.

3. Plainness; freedom from adornment; severe simplicity.

Partly owing to the studied austerity of her dress, and partly to the lack of demonstration in her manners. --Hawthorne.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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