austere.
Grim or severe in manner or appearance.
Meaning & usage
Grim or severe in manner or appearance.
The headmistress was an austere old woman.
Lacking decoration; trivial; not extravagant or gaudy.
The interior of the church was as austere as the parishioners were dour.
Adhering to the economic policy of austerity.
Harsh; astringent.
Where this word comes from
From Ancient Greek αὐστηρός (austērós, “bitter, harsh, astringent”), having the specific meaning “making the tongue dry” (originally used of fruits, wines), related to αὔω (aúō, “to singe”), αὖος (aûos, “dry”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.