sə̇ˈvi(ə)r, sēˈ-, -viə adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin severus, perhaps from sed, se without + -verus kindliness, friendliness; akin to Latin verus true — more at idiot , very
1.
a. : strict or uncompromising in judgment, discipline, or government
parent severe to the pitch of hostility — H.G.Wells
the king's temper was arbitrary and severe — T.B.Macaulay
did perfect work and was a more severe taskmistress than the teacher who had sight — Marie A. Kasten
b. : of a strict or stern bearing or demeanor
her face was composed but not severe — Archibald Marshall
her matronly expression became more severe — Ellen Glasgow
a hefty six-footer with a rather severe mien — Current Biography
2. : absolute or rigorous in restraint, punishment, or requirement : inflexible , stringent , restrictive
martial law is very severe in this matter — C.B.Nordhoff & J.N.Hall
the severe discipline of military life — John Lodge
the penalties become more severe as the bottom is approached — R.A.Hall b.1911
in connection with phantom circuits, severer cross talk requirements have necessitated more precise balances — Bell System Technical Journal
3. : strongly critical or condemnatory : censorious
some voluntary societies have been very severe about certain films … which they consider vague, incoherent, and technically poor — Report: (Canadian) Royal Commission on National Development
very severe on the dangers and disease of intoxication — George du Maurier
delivers severe remarks against his enemies
4.
a. : establishing or maintaining a scrupulously exacting standard of behavior or self-discipline
there appeared a sounder logic in the severe decorum and ironbound theology of her youth — Ellen Glasgow
faults that must seem so black to her, with her simple severe notions — George Eliot
one of the severest moralists of his times
b. : establishing or exhibiting scrupulously exacting standards of accuracy and integrity in intellectual processes
models of exact research and severe scholarship — D.M.Robinson
the kind of truth demanded by severe logicians — H.J.Muller
5. : sober or restrained in decoration or manner : conservatively adorned : austere , plain
the only decoration to an otherwise severe facade — American Guide Series: Louisiana
in his severe black garb — American Guide Series: Delaware
in cool, severe prose — American Guide Series: Florida
6.
a. : inflicting physical discomfort or hardship : inclement , harsh
the snows of a severe New England winter — American Guide Series: Maine
conditions too severe to effect a rescue either by surf boats or by a breeches buoy — J.P.Baxter b.1893
growing under severe alpine conditions — G.R.Stewart
b. : inflicting pain or distress : afflictive , grievous
disturbance which may be mild and benign or severe and malign — Diseases of the Nervous System
the severe aches connected with muscles — F.A.Geldard
a severe wound which … cost him a leg — Mary A. Hamilton
the pain of a badly fitting or too severe bit is a constant cause of trouble — Beauvoir de Lisle
7. : requiring great effort : arduous , difficult
faces a severe test of his capacity — New Statesman & Nation
showing, in a severe physical contest … that his bodily strength is not decayed — J.G.Frazer
8. chiefly dialect : extremely strong, powerful, or effective
takes a big severe dog to do that — Horace Kephart
9. : of a great degree or an undesirable or harmful extent : marked , serious
a severe economic depression — B.K.Sandwell
the fight was not severe for there was only one fatality — American Guide Series: California
severe shortages
severe difficulties
Synonyms:
stern , austere , ascetic : severe implies unsparing adherence to rigorous standards, often those prescribing the hard or plain, enforced without indulgence and sometimes with harshness
a severe code of Spartan living
has high and severe standards — C.L.R.James
was unyielding in his understandable insistence on discipline, was apt to be severe — Arthur Berger
stern may imply inflexible or inexorable severity, often along with a harsh, forbidding, or cold disposition
during 21 stern years in the courtroom, Parker sentenced 151 men to the gallows — American Guide Series: Arkansas
love indeed they did give, but it was a stern and passionless affection — E.T.Thurston
on its surrender the stern justice of Hubert hung the twenty-four knights and their retainers who formed the garrison — J.R.Green
austere may describe cold, barren, or dispassionate lack of feeling, warmth, color, or animation; it may apply to rigorous and stark restraint, simplicity, or self-denial
austere, chill, precise, and dignified, his demeanor made familiarity impossible — Allan Nevins
banks have sometimes cultivated a cold, austere atmosphere, symbolized by hard, cold marble and polished brass — Banking
ascetic may refer to self-denying abstention, monastic or reminiscent of monasticism, from the pleasurable, easy, or indulgent, or even a courting of the disagreeable and hard in spiritual or intellectual discipline
knowing the ascetic measure of his appetites, he was doubly certain that she would not let him starve; crisp drops of spring water and spare and wholesome crusts could never be denied him — Elinor Wylie
his crabbed style and ascetic reasoning — V.L.Parrington
this intermeddling with worldly business, which the ascetic reformer looked upon as the curse that robbed prelates and churchmen of that spiritual authority which could alone meet the vice and suffering of the time — J.R.Green