Severe
[sɪ'vɪə] or [sɪ'vɪr]
Definition
(adj.) very bad in degree or extent; 'a severe worldwide depression'; 'the house suffered severe damage' .
(adj.) unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or judgment; 'a parent severe to the pitch of hostility'- H.G.Wells; 'a hefty six-footer with a rather severe mien'; 'a strict disciplinarian'; 'a Spartan upbringing' .
(adj.) intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality; 'severe pain'; 'a severe case of flu'; 'a terrible cough'; 'under wicked fire from the enemy's guns'; 'a wicked cough' .
Checker: Willa--From WordNet
Definition
(superl.) Serious in feeeling or manner; sedate; grave; austere; not light, lively, or cheerful.
(superl.) Very strict in judgment, discipline, or government; harsh; not mild or indulgent; rigorous; as, severe criticism; severe punishment.
(superl.) Rigidly methodical, or adherent to rule or principle; exactly conformed to a standard; not allowing or employing unneccessary ornament, amplification, etc.; strict; -- said of style, argument, etc.
(superl.) Sharp; afflictive; distressing; violent; extreme; as, severe pain, anguish, fortune; severe cold.
(superl.) Difficult to be endured; exact; critical; rigorous; as, a severe test.
Checked by Flossie
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Rigid, stern, harsh, bitter, austere, rigorous, stiff, strait-laced, hard, unrelenting, relentless, inexorable, peremptory.[2]. Strict, exact, accurate, methodical.[3]. Simple, plain, unadorned, concise, chaste.[4]. Caustic, satirical, sarcastic, keen, cutting, stinging, biting, sharp.[5]. Distressing, afflictive, acute, violent, extreme, intense, hard to bear.
Editor: Percival
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Serious, austere, stern, grave, strict, harsh, rigid, rigorous, sharp,afflictive, distressing, violent, extreme, exact, critical, censorious,caustic, sarcastic, cutting, keen, bitter, cruel
ANT:Gay, smiling, cheerful, relaxed, jocose, jocund, joyous, mild, genial,indulgent, light, trivial, tri-fling, inconsiderable, inexact, loose,uncritical, lenient, inextreme, moderate, kind, considerate, feeling, tender,gentle
Typed by Duane
Definition
adj. serious: grave: austere: strict: not mild: strictly adhering to rule: free from florid ornamentation simple: sharp: distressing: inclement: searching: difficult to be endured.—adv. Sēvēre′ly.—ns. Sēvēre′ness; Sēver′ity quality of being severe: gravity: harshness: exactness: inclemency.
Edited by Lizzie
Examples
- My application was of longer endurance; but it was not so severe whilst it endured. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- You should do so, Sir,' said Pott, with a severe countenance. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Crittenden had a severe engagement with some of Hill's corps on his crossing the river, and lost heavily. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- After several severe skirmishes, in which the enemy was defeated, General Steele reached Camden, which he occupied about the middle of April. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- To be brief, their kind attention and my own excellent constitution triumphed over the fever, which had been very severe during five days. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- The terms were severe, but they left it possible for her to hope for an honourable future. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Intellectual responsibility means severe standards in this regard. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Under date of February 12, he writes: This day has been memorable in the annals of Valdivia for the most severe earthquake experienced by the oldes t inhabitant. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- This process of puddling lasted for about an hour and a half and entailed extremely severe labour on the workman. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Our losses in the Wilderness were very severe. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Shiloh was the severest battle fought at the West during the war, and but few in the East equalled it for hard, determined fighting. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Even the common people, the severest critics of the conduct of their betters, had commiseration with the follies of Prior Aymer. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- I was not allowed to call him uncle, under the severest penalties. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- The war is, perhaps, severest between the males of polygamous animals, and these seem oftenest provided with special weapons. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- But her uncle's anger gave her the severest pain of all. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- For, though your accusations were ill-founded, formed on mistaken premises, my behaviour to you at the time had merited the severest reproof. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- Hitherto I have known few pleasures save of the severer kind: my satisfactions have been those of the solitary student. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- One morning, after a severer strain than usual, he awoke with a strange sensation in his eyes. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- It is true, that such slight compositions might not suit the severer genius of our friend Mr Oldbuck. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- But we can also imagine the existence of an age in which a severer conception of truth has either banished or transformed them. Plato. The Republic.
- To stare Becky out of countenance required a severer glance than even the frigid old Bareacres could shoot out of her dismal eyes. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
Editor: Rhoda