se·ver·i·ty

(sə-vĕr′ĭ-tē)

n. pl. se·ver·i·ties

1. The state or quality of being severe.

2. The act or an instance of severe behavior, especially punishment.

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.

se•ver•i•ty

(səˈvɛr ɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties.

1. harshness, sternness, or rigor.

2. austere simplicity, as of style or taste.

3. intensity or sharpness, as of cold or pain.

4. grievousness; hard or trying character or effect.

5. rigid exactness or accuracy.

6. an instance of strict or severe behavior, punishment, etc.

[1475–85; < Latin sevēritās]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	severity - used of the degree of something undesirable e.g. pain or weather severeness, badness intensiveness, intensity - high level or degree; the property of being intense raininess, foulness - (of weather) the badness of the weather; "they were wearied with the foulness of the weather" distressfulness, seriousness - the quality of arousing fear or distress; "he learned the seriousness of his illness"
	2.	severity - something hard to endure; "the asperity of northern winters" asperity, rigor, rigorousness, rigourousness, severeness, rigour, grimness, hardship difficultness, difficulty - the quality of being difficult; "they agreed about the difficulty of the climb" sternness - the quality (as of scenery) being grim and gloomy and forbidding; "the sternness of his surroundings made him uncomfortable"
	3.	severity - extreme plainness austereness, severeness plainness - the appearance of being plain and unpretentious
	4.	severity - excessive sternness; "severity of character"; "the harshness of his punishment was inhuman"; "the rigors of boot camp" inclemency, rigorousness, rigourousness, rigour, rigor, harshness, severeness, stiffness, hardness sternness, strictness - uncompromising resolution

severity

noun strictness, seriousness, harshness, austerity, rigour, toughness, hardness, stringency, sternness, severeness He was sickened by the severity of the sentence.

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

severity

noun

1. The fact or condition of being rigorous and unsparing:

austerity, hardness, harshness, rigidity, rigor, rigorousness, sternness, strictness, stringency, toughness.

2. Exceptionally great concentration, power, or force, especially in activity:

depth (often used in plural), ferociousness, ferocity, fierceness, fury, intensity, pitch, vehemence, vehemency, violence.

Translations

شِدَّه، قَسْوَه

přísnoststrohost

alvorenkelhedstrenghed

Strenge

αυστηρότητα

severidad

austérité rigueur sévérité

harka; einfaldleiki

rigidezza severit...

ernstongewenstheidslechtheid strengheid

resnost

ciddiyet şiddet

严重朴素

severity

[sɪˈverɪtɪ] N

1. (= seriousness) [of illness] → gravedad f, seriedad f; [of pain] → intensidad f; [of attack] → dureza f

2. (= strictness) [of character, criticism] → severidad f

3. (= harshness) [of weather, conditions, winter] → rigor m

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

severity

[sɪˈvɛrəti] n

[punishment, sentence] → sévérité f; [person, tone] → sévérité f

[injury, damage] → sévérité f

[winter, weather] → rigueur f

(= austerity) [appearance, design] → sévérité f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

severity

n (= strictness, of person, appearance, style) → Strenge f; (= harshness, of critic, law, winter also, punishment, competition, test) → Härte f; (of criticism) → Schärfe f; (= seriousness, of expression, warning) → Ernst m; (of illness, injury, blow, crime, storm, loss) → Schwere f; (of pain, storm) → Stärke f, → Heftigkeit f; (of weather) → Rauheit f; the severity of the cold/drought → die große or schwere Kälte/Dürre; the severity of the frost → der starke or schwere Frost; severities → Härten pl

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

severity

[sɪˈvɛrɪtɪ] n (gen) → gravità; (of punishment) → severità; (of criticism) → durezza; (of climate, weather) → rigore m; (of damage) → ingenza; (of pain) → intensità; (of symptoms) → acutezza

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

severe

(səˈviə) adjective

1. (of something unpleasant) serious; extreme. severe shortages of food; a severe illness; Our team suffered a severe defeat.

2. strict or harsh. a severe mother; severe criticism.

3. (of style in dress etc) very plain. a severe hairstyle.

seˈverely adverb

seˈverity (-ˈve-) noun

the severity of the punishment; the severity of her dress.

severity

n severidad f, gravedad f, (pain) intensidad f

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

But, in that early severity of the Puritan character, an inference of this kind could not so indubitably be drawn.

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"It will be absolutely necessary," said she, "as you, my dear sister, must be sensible, to treat my daughter with some severity while she is here; a most painful necessity, but I will ENDEAVOUR to submit to it.

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But with more feeling and discernment he would have recognized the noble beauty of its modeling, and the graceful severity of poise and movement, which made Edna Pontellier different from the crowd.

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But to minds strongly marked by the positive and negative qualities that create severity,--strength of will, conscious rectitude of purpose, narrowness of imagination and intellect, great power of self-control, and a disposition to exert control over others,--prejudices come as the natural food of tendencies which can get no sustenance out of that complex, fragmentary, doubt-provoking knowledge which we call truth.

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Truly, ma'am, you are a fitting person to tax me with want of severity. Rather should you be giving thanks that it is not you I am comparing with Porthos.

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He always began by shoving me into a chair before I had time to open my mouth, gave me cordially a large cigar, and in excellent English would start to talk everlastingly about the phenomenal severity of the weather.

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Miss Bridget had always exprest so great a regard for what the ladies are pleased to call virtue, and had herself maintained such a severity of character, that it was expected, especially by Wilkins, that she would have vented much bitterness on this occasion, and would have voted for sending the child, as a kind of noxious animal, immediately out of the house; but, on the contrary, she rather took the good-natured side of the question, intimated some compassion for the helpless little creature, and commended her brother's charity in what he had done.

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I take the imputation in good part, as a compliment to the just delineation of my female characters; and though I am bound to attribute much of the severity of my censors to this suspicion, I make no effort to refute it, because, in my own mind, I am satisfied that if a book is a good one, it is so whatever the sex of the author may be.

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'Your majesty shouldn't purr so loud,' Alice said, rubbing her eyes, and addressing the kitten, respectfully, yet with some severity. 'You woke me out of oh!

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"Ma chere, there is a time for everything," said the countess with feigned severity. "You spoil her, Ilya," she added, turning to her husband.

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As for Draco's laws, they were published when the government was already established, and they have nothing particular in them worth mentioning, except their severity on account of the enormity of their punishments.

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One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy vinum daemonum, because it fireth the imagination; and yet, it is but with the shadow of a lie.

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