Dictionary

austere en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ɔːˈstɪə(ɹ)/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ɑˈstiɹ/ (cot-caught-merger)
• /ɔˈstiɹ/ (General-American)
• /ɒˈstɪə(ɹ)/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio
• ôstēr′ (General-American)

Etymology

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”).

Meanings

1. Grim or severe in manner or appearance.
   • Even the austere philosopher Immanuel Kant of Koenigsberg, it is said, whose habits were so regular that the citizens of that town set their watches by him, postponed the hour of his afternoon stroll when he received the news [of the fall of the Bastille], thus convincing Koenigsberg that a world-shaking event had indeed happened. 1962, Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution, page 61:
   • The headmistress was an austere old woman.
2. Lacking decoration; trivial; not extravagant or gaudy.
   • So we come, at above street level, into the city, and to Canterbury East Station (9.8 miles). It is an austere, rather barn-like structure, with a high roof over the two platforms. 1958 October 14, Rev. A. W. V. Mace, “From Faversham to Dover—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 670:
   • The interior of the church was as austere as the parishioners were dour.
3. Adhering to the economic policy of austerity.
   • Counterintuitively, in an effort to be austere and save money, cities which only remove a crossing every couple of years manage to be way less efficient at it than Melbourne has been. 2024 December 14, Reece Martin, “Learning from Melbourne’s Level Crossing Removal Project” (9:05 from the start), in RMTransit:
4. Harsh; astringent.
   • It is like a small plum, nearly globular in shape, black covered with a bluish bloom, and with a very austere taste. 1862, Charles Pierpoint Johnson, The Useful Plants of Great Britain, page 85:

Forms

Antonyms

glaring · meretricious · gauche · ritzy · blingish · kitschy · trinkety · gay · showy · gussied up · gross · vain · extravagant · schlocky · kitsch · flamboyant · flossy · obtrusive · splendiferous · whorish · campy · tasteless · unbecoming · crude · brash · flaunting · pimped out · gaudy · untasteful · tawdry · froufrou · florid · chichi · blatant · overwrought · bedizened · zesty · pretentious · loud · raffish · tinselly · corny · too much · crass · chintzy · garish · flashy · gaudy · catchpenny · pizazzy · ostentatious · flashy · naff · hideous · tacky · snazzy

Deriveds

austereness · austerely · unaustere · austerity

Synonyms

stern · heartless · cruel · ascetic · stonehearted · unornamented · modest · severe · unmoved · austere · ungarnished · icy · hardened · simple · unsympathetic · simple · stonyhearted · unextravagant · marble-hearted · frosty · iron-hearted · dour · cold · bare · severe · hardhanded · untrimmed · grim · hard · stern · callous · humorless · harsh · chaste · plain · stony · spartan · flint-hearted · unembellished · insensitive · plain · forbidding · thick-skinned · unadorned · undecked · hard-boiled · inornate · unembellished · tough · cold-eyed · quiet · strict · hardhearted · rigorous · strict · forbidding · rockhearted · unvarnished · unadorned · brutal · insensate

Translations (42)

tr sert (grim, stern, strict) · nl sober (not extravagant) · fi koruton (not extravagant) · ru аскети́чный (not extravagant) · cs strohý (not extravagant) · nl karig (not extravagant) · nl streng (grim, stern, strict) · cs uměřený (not extravagant) · bg строг (grim, stern, strict) · tr süssüz (not extravagant) · pt severo (grim, stern, strict) · hu egyszerű (not extravagant) · pt austero (not extravagant) · fi ankara (grim, stern, strict) · cs strohý (grim, stern, strict) · pt austero (grim, stern, strict) · bg прост (not extravagant) · ru просто́й (not extravagant) · fi karu (not extravagant) · ru суро́вый (grim, stern, strict) · ru стро́гий (grim, stern, strict) · mi māmore (not extravagant) · es austero (grim, stern, strict) · fr austère (grim, stern, strict) · de genügsam (not extravagant) · it austero (grim, stern, strict) · nl droog (grim, stern, strict) · mi more (not extravagant) · hu szigorú (grim, stern, strict) · bg аскети́чен (not extravagant) · de schlicht (not extravagant) · it austero (not extravagant) · bg суро́в (grim, stern, strict) · pdt ieeboa (grim, stern, strict) · la austērus (grim, stern, strict) · tr ciddi (grim, stern, strict) · ro auster (grim, stern, strict) · es austero (not extravagant) · tr katı (grim, stern, strict) · fr austère (not extravagant) · grc αὐστηρός (grim, stern, strict) · tr sade (not extravagant)