austere

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“
I was at the London Oratory yesterday for the Good Friday service: magnificently austere, which isn't a word you usually associate with that church.

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Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Severe or stern in disposition or appearance; somber and grave: the austere figure of a Puritan minister.
  2. adjective Strict or severe in discipline; ascetic: a desert nomad's austere life. See Synonyms at severe.
  3. adjective Having no adornment or ornamentation; bare: an austere style.

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Examples (50)

  • Quarters and food are austere, our treatment by English officers is correct. —  THE BANTAM WAR BOOK SERIES
  • I was at the London Oratory yesterday for the Good Friday service: magnificently austere, which isn't a word you usually associate with that church. —  Telegraph Blogs
  • He knew what kind of men these farmers and weavers of Carnmoney and Templepatrick were--austere, cold men, difficult to stir to violent action; much more difficult to cow into submission when once roused. —  The Northern Iron
  • 'Twas a gross insult; but I heed it not For the rash scorner's falsehood in itself But for the effect, the deadly deep impression Which it has made upon Faliero's soul The proud, the fiery, the austere--austere To all save me: I tremble when I think To what it may conduct Mar Assuredly The Doge can not suspect you Ang Suspect me! —  The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 4
  • Yon were so--austere, you scared me, Becky He was again hugging his knees. —  The Trumpeter Swan
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

sober ·  haughty ·  lofty ·  serene ·  gloomy ·  grim ·  rigid ·  sombre ·  pious ·  gentle ·  uncompromising ·  religious
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French, from Latin austērus, from Greek austēros.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English austere, from Old French austere, from Latin austerus, harsh, sour, tart, severe, from Greek αὐστηρός, dry, harsh, bitter, from αὐος, Attic αὐος, dry, withered, sear; related to English sear, sere, dry: see sear, sere.
 

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/ɔsˈtir/
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