Standard Lemma guide

austere

adj · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɒˈstɪə(ɹ)/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɔːˈstɪə(ɹ)/
  • General-American: /ɔˈstiɹ/
  • General-American: ôstēr′
  • cot-caught-merger: /ɑˈstiɹ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪə(ɹ)
  • CMU ARPABET: AO0 S T IH1 R Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Grim or severe in manner or appearance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The headmistress was an austere old woman.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: stern, strict, forbidding, ascetic, brutal, callous, cold, cold-eyed, cruel, dour, flint-hearted, frosty, grim, hard, hard-boiled, hardened, hardhearted, heartless, harsh, humorless, icy, iron-hearted, insensate, insensitive, marble-hearted, rigorous, rockhearted, severe, stonehearted, stony, stonyhearted, tough, unsympathetic, unmoved

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Lacking decoration; trivial; not extravagant or gaudy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The interior of the church was as austere as the parishioners were dour.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: simple, plain, unadorned, unembellished, austere, bare, chaste, inornate, modest, quiet, severe, spartan, unextravagant, unornamented, undecked, ungarnished, untrimmed, unvarnished

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

3

adj

Meaning 3

Adhering to the economic policy of austerity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Harsh; astringent.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

practicing great self-denial- William James

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Be systematically ascetic...do...something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it
  • a desert nomad's austere life
  • a spartan diet
  • a spartan existence

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ascetic, ascetical, spartan

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an austere expression
  • a stern face

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: stern

Antonyms: none provided

7

adjective satellite

Meaning 7

severely simple

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a stark interior

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: severe, stark, stern

Antonyms: none provided

History

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”).

Across languages

Translations

42 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: строг (strog) — grim, stern, strict
  • Bulgarian: суро́в (suróv) — grim, stern, strict
  • Czech: strohý — grim, stern, strict
  • Dutch: streng — grim, stern, strict
  • Dutch: droog — grim, stern, strict
  • Finnish: ankara — grim, stern, strict
  • French: austère — grim, stern, strict
  • Ancient Greek: αὐστηρός (austērós) — grim, stern, strict
  • Hungarian: szigorú — grim, stern, strict
  • Italian: austero — grim, stern, strict
  • Latin: austērus — grim, stern, strict
  • Plautdietsch: ieeboa — grim, stern, strict
  • Portuguese: severo — grim, stern, strict
  • Portuguese: austero — grim, stern, strict
  • Romanian: auster — grim, stern, strict
  • Russian: стро́гий (strógij) — grim, stern, strict
  • Russian: суро́вый (suróvyj) — grim, stern, strict
  • Spanish: severo — grim, stern, strict
  • Turkish: sert — grim, stern, strict
  • Turkish: ciddi — grim, stern, strict
  • Turkish: katı — grim, stern, strict
  • Bulgarian: прост (prost) — not extravagant
  • Bulgarian: аскети́чен (asketíčen) — not extravagant
  • Czech: uměřený — not extravagant
  • Czech: strohý — not extravagant
  • Dutch: sober — not extravagant
  • Dutch: karig — not extravagant
  • Finnish: koruton — not extravagant
  • Finnish: karu — not extravagant
  • French: austère — not extravagant
  • German: schlicht — not extravagant
  • German: genügsam — not extravagant
  • Hungarian: egyszerű — not extravagant
  • Italian: austero — not extravagant
  • Māori: more — not extravagant
  • Māori: māmore — not extravagant
  • Portuguese: austero — not extravagant
  • Russian: просто́й (prostój) — not extravagant
  • Russian: аскети́чный (asketíčnyj) — not extravagant
  • Spanish: austero — not extravagant
  • Turkish: sade — not extravagant
  • Turkish: süssüz — not extravagant