aus·tere

(ô-stîr′)

adj. aus·ter·er, aus·ter·est

1. Severe or stern in disposition or appearance; somber and grave: the austere figure of a Puritan minister.

2. Strict or severe in discipline; ascetic: a desert nomad's austere life. See Synonyms at severe.

3. Having no adornment or ornamentation; bare: an austere style.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin austērus, from Greek austēros.]

aus·tere′ly adv.

aus·tere′ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

austere

(ɒˈstɪə)

adj

1. stern or severe in attitude or manner: an austere schoolmaster.

2. grave, sober, or serious: an austere expression.

3. self-disciplined, abstemious, or ascetic: an austere life.

4. severely simple or plain: an austere design.

[C14: from Old French austère, from Latin austērus sour, from Greek austēros astringent; related to Greek hauein to dry]

ausˈterely adv

ausˈtereness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

aus•tere

(ɔˈstɪər)

adj.

1. severe in manner or appearance; strict; forbidding.

2. rigorously self-disciplined and severely moral; ascetic; abstinent.

3. without excess, luxury, or ease: an austere life.

4. without ornament or adornment; severely simple: austere writing.

5. lacking softness.

[1300–50; Middle English (< Anglo-French) < Latin austērus < Greek austērós harsh, rough, bitter]

aus•tere′ly, adv.

aus•tere′ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	austere - severely simple; "a stark interior" stark, severe, stern plain - not elaborate or elaborated; simple; "plain food"; "stuck to the plain facts"; "a plain blue suit"; "a plain rectangular brick building"
	2.	austere - of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect; "an austere expression"; "a stern face" stern nonindulgent, strict - characterized by strictness, severity, or restraint
	3.	austere - practicing great self-denial; "Be systematically ascetic...do...something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it"- William James; "a desert nomad's austere life"; "a spartan diet"; "a spartan existence" ascetic, ascetical, spartan abstemious - sparing in consumption of especially food and drink; "the pleasures of the table, never of much consequence to one naturally abstemious"- John Galsworthy

austere

adjective

1. stern, hard, serious, cold, severe, formal, grave, strict, exacting, harsh, stiff, forbidding, grim, rigorous, solemn, stringent, inflexible, unrelenting, unfeeling an austere, distant, cold person
stern kindly, sweet, flexible, cheerful, indulgent, genial, affable, permissive, jovial, convivial, free-and-easy

2. plain, simple, severe, spare, harsh, stark, bleak, subdued, economical, Spartan, unadorned, unornamented The church was austere and simple.
plain comfortable, luxurious, indulgent

3. ascetic, strict, continent, exacting, rigid, sober, economical, solemn, Spartan, unrelenting, self-disciplined, puritanical, chaste, strait-laced, abstemious, self-denying, abstinent The life of the troops was comparatively austere.
ascetic abandoned, loose, immoral, indulgent, permissive, free-and-easy

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

austere

adjective

Cold and forbidding:

bleak, dour, grim, hard, harsh, severe, stark.

Translations

مُتَقَشِّف، بَسيط جِداً

prostý

beskedenenkel

streng

austero

austère sévère

strangur

austero grave programma d'austerit...rigido severo

griežtasgriežtumas

askētisksatturīgs

droog karig sober streng

barsk streng

severo

gösterişsizsade yalın

简朴的

austere

[ɒsˈtiːəʳ] ADJ [person, manner, life] → austero, severo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

austere

[ɔːˈstɪə^r] adj [times, life, conditions] → austère; [beauty, style, approach] → austère

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

austere

adj → streng; way of life also → asketisch, entsagend; style also → schmucklos; room → schmucklos, karg

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

austere

[ɒsˈtɪəʳ] adj → austero/a

austere

(oːˈstiə) adjective

severely simple and plain; without luxuries or unnecessary expenditure. an austere way of life.

auˈsterity (-ˈste-) noun

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"It is very true," said the Poodle, with austere dignity, "that I am small; but, sir, I beg to observe that I am all dog."

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So he said to him, "It seems to me, Senor Knight-errant, that your worship has made choice of one of the most austere professions in the world, and I imagine even that of the Carthusian monks is not so austere."

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For days his voice will not be heard raised about the decks, with that curt, austere accent of the man in charge, till, again, when the hatches are on, and in a silent and expectant ship, he shall speak up from aft in commanding tones: "Man the windlass!"

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You must except, nevertheless, Marcus Antonius, the half partner of the empire of Rome, and Appius Claudius, the decemvir and lawgiver; whereof the former was indeed a voluptuous man, and inordinate; but the latter was an austere and wise man: and therefore it seems (though rarely) that love can find entrance, not only into an open heart, but also into a heart well fortified, if watch be not well kept.

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But as time went on he led a more and more austere life, refusing everything superfluous, and finally he accepted nothing but rye-bread once a week.

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Beyond the bar the sea, calm and austere, dreamed in the afterlight.

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About the period when the churches convene at Edinburgh in their annual assemblies, he was to be seen descending the Mound in the company of divers red-headed clergymen: these voluble, he only contributing oracular nods, brief negatives, and the austere spectacle of his stretched upper lip.

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These descendants of the sect of Zoroaster--the most thrifty, civilised, intelligent, and austere of the East Indians, among whom are counted the richest native merchants of Bombay--were celebrating a sort of religious carnival, with processions and shows, in the midst of which Indian dancing-girls, clothed in rose-coloured gauze, looped up with gold and silver, danced airily, but with perfect modesty, to the sound of viols and the clanging of tambourines.

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He delighted in the robust common sense of Thomas Hobbes; Spinoza filled him with awe, he had never before come in contact with a mind so noble, so unapproachable and austere; it reminded him of that statue by Rodin, L'Age d'Airain, which he passionately admired; and then there was Hume: the scepticism of that charming philosopher touched a kindred note in Philip; and, revelling in the lucid style which seemed able to put complicated thought into simple words, musical and measured, he read as he might have read a novel, a smile of pleasure on his lips.

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Whom have you got there dressed up as a Hungarian?" said the commander with an austere gibe.

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Yet, as I listened, I felt inclined to think the man was sincere in all he said: he must have changed his views, and become decidedly religious, gloomy and austere, yet still devout.

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And all my austere nights of midnight oil, all the books I had read, all the wisdom I had gathered, went glimmering before the ape and tiger in me that crawled up from the abysm of my heredity, atavistic, competitive and brutal, lustful with strength and desire to outswine the swine.

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