severe

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

adj. austerity, serious, earnest; rigorous, trying; harsh, strict; sharp, distressing, extreme. See severity, importance, adversity. Ant., relaxed, laissez-faire.

II

(Roget's IV) modif.

1. [Stern]

Syn. stern, exacting, uncompromising, unbending, inflexible, unchanging, unalterable, inexorable, harsh, cruel, oppressive, close, grinding, peremptory, obdurate, resolute, austere, rigid, grim, earnest, stiff, forbidding, resolved, relentless, strait-laced, determined, unfeeling, insensate, with an iron will, strict, inconsiderate, firm, immovable, as firm as the Rock of Gibraltar, adamant, unyielding.

Ant. flexible*, yielding, genial.

2. [Difficult or rigorous]

Syn. overbearing, tyrannical, mordant, sharp, exacting, stringent, drastic, domineering, rigid, oppressive, despotic, unmerciful, bullying, uncompromising, obdurate, relentless, unrelenting, hard, rigorous, austere, grinding, ascetic, grim, implacable, cruel, pitiless, critical, unjust, barbarous, censorious, crusty, gruff, crabbed, unmitigated, intractable, stubborn, autocratic, Draconian, with a heart of granite, stony-hearted, hard-shell*, rock-ribbed*, hidebound*; see also difficult 1 .

Ant. easy*, easygoing, indulgent.

Syn.- severe applies to a person or thing that is strict, uncompromising, or restrained and connotes a total absence of softness, laxity, frivolity, etc. [ a severe critic, hairdo, etc. ] and may often imply harshness [severe punishment, a severe tornado ] ; stern implies an unyielding firmness, esp. as manifested in a grim or forbidding aspect or manner [ a stern guardian ] ; austere suggests harsh restraint, self-denial, stark simplicity [ the austere diet of wartime ] , or an absence of warmth, passion, ornamentation, etc. [ an austere bedroom ] ; ascetic implies extreme self-denial and self-discipline or even, sometimes, the deliberate self-infliction of pain and discomfort, as by religious fanatics [ an ascetic hermit ]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) a.

1. harsh stern, strict, hard, *hard-nosed, uncompromising, unsparing, rigid, unfeeling, merciless, pitiless.

2. serious grave, forbidding, stern, unsmiling, grim, austere, cold, stony.

3. grievous serious, acute, violent, nasty, critical, dire, life-threatening, bad, dangerous, fierce, intense, extreme.

4. plain unornamented, spare, bare, stark, austere, undecorated.

ANT.: 1. softhearted, easy, compassionate. 2. light-hearted, smiling, jovial. 3. mild, minor, trivial. 4. ornate, rococo, luxurious

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) adjective 1. Rigorous and unsparing in treating others: demanding, exacting, hard, harsh, rigid, stern, strict, tough, unyielding. See EASY. 2. Cold and forbidding: austere, bleak, dour, grim, hard, harsh, stark. See ATTITUDE, HOT. 3. Causing sharp, often prolonged discomfort: bitter, brutal, hard, harsh, rough. See COMFORT. 4. Conveying great physical force: hard, heavy, hefty, powerful. See BIG. 5. Having great consequence or weight: earnest1, grave2, heavy, momentous, serious, weighty. See IMPORTANT. 6. Causing or marked by danger or pain, for example: dangerous, grave2, grievous, serious. See HELP. 7. Requiring great or extreme bodily, mental, or spiritual strength: arduous, backbreaking, burdensome, demanding, difficult, effortful, exacting, exigent, formidable, hard, heavy, laborious, onerous, oppressive, rigorous, rough, taxing, tough, trying, weighty. See HEAVY.