Synonyms for austere
ɔˈstɪəraus·tere

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:4.0 / 4 votes

1. austereadjective

   Grim or severe in manner or appearance

   The headmistress was an austere old woman.

   Synonyms:
   stern, forbidding, strict

2. austereadjective

   Lacking trivial decoration; not extravagant or gaudy

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

   Synonyms:
   simple, unadorned, plain, unembellished

   Antonyms:
   gaudy, flamboyant, extravagant, flashy, overwrought

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. austere

   That is severe which is devoid of all softness, mildness, tenderness, indulgence or levity, or (in literature and art) devoid of unnecessary ornament, amplification, or embellishment of any kind; as, a severe style; as said of anything painful, severe signifies such as heavily taxes endurance or resisting power; as, a severe pain, fever, or winter. Rigid signifies primarily stiff, resisting any effort to change its shape; a corpse is said to be rigid in death; hence, in metaphorical sense, a rigid person or character is one that resists all efforts to change the will or course of conduct; a rigid rule or statement is one that admits of no deviation. Rigorous is nearly akin to rigid, but is a stronger word, having reference to action or active qualities, as rigid does to state or character; a rigid rule may be rigorously enforced. Strict (Latin stringo, bind) signifies bound or stretched tight, tense, strenuously exact. Stern unites harshness and authority with strictness or severity; stern, as said even of inanimate objects, suggests something authoritative or forbidding. Austere signifies severely simple or temperate, strict in self-restraint or discipline, and similarly unrelenting toward others. We speak of austere morality, rigid rules, rigorous discipline, stern commands, severe punishment, harsh speech or a harsh voice, hard requirements, strict injunctions, and strict obedience. Strict discipline holds one exactly and unflinchingly to the rule; rigorous discipline punishes severely any infraction of it. The austere character is seldom lovely, but it is always strong and may be grand, commanding, and estimable.

   Synonyms:
   hard, harsh, inexorable, inflexible, morose, relentless, rigid, rigorous, severe, stern, stiff, strict, uncompromising, unmitigated, unrelenting, unyielding

   Antonyms:
   affable, bland, easy, genial, gentle, indulgent, lenient, mild, pliable, soft, sweet, tender, tractable, yielding

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. austere

   Synonyms:
   hard, rigid, stern, severe, morose, unrelenting, unyielding, strict, rigorous, harsh, sour, relentless

   Antonyms:
   mild, affable, kindly, tender, feeling, bland, indulgent, genial

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. austere, severe, stark, sternadjective

   severely simple

   "a stark interior"

   Synonyms:
   life-threatening, perfect(a), consummate(a), unadulterated, double-dyed(a), serious, ascetic, bare, arrant(a), stark, severe, desolate, staring(a), unrelenting, stern, grievous, sodding(a), unappeasable, grave, everlasting(a), crude(a), dangerous, wicked, complete(a), hard, gross(a), terrible, stark(a), pure(a), relentless, barren, unforgiving, blunt, grim, bleak, inexorable, exacting, thoroughgoing(a), strict, ascetical, utter(a), spartan, knockout

   Antonyms:
   fancy, indulgent, gluttonous

2. austere, sternadjective

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

   "an austere expression"; "a stern face"

   Synonyms:
   exacting, stark, spartan, severe, unrelenting, strict, inexorable, ascetical, unappeasable, relentless, stern, ascetic, grim, unforgiving

   Antonyms:
   gluttonous, fancy, indulgent

3. ascetic, ascetical, austere, spartanadjective

   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"

   Synonyms:
   stark, severe, ascetic, ascetical, stern, spartan

   Antonyms:
   gluttonous, fancy, indulgent

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. austereadjective

   Synonyms:
   rough (to the taste), sour and astringent

2. austereadjective

   Synonyms:
   severe, rigid, strict, formal, stiff, rigorous, harsh, stern, difficult, hard, uncompromising, unrelenting, relentless, ascetic, straight-laced

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "austere":

   joyless, stoic, rudimentary, frugal, stark, sober

How to pronounce austere?

How to say austere in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

1. [["1568","1"],["1587","10"],["1620","1"],["1626","1"],["1629","1"],["1635","4"],["1637","3"],["1638","1"],["1640","1"],["1643","1"],["1644","3"],["1648","1"],["1654","1"],["1656","5"],["1657","2"],["1658","4"],["1665","2"],["1667","3"],["1668","5"],["1669","1"],["1670","1"],["1672","1"],["1673","2"],["1675","3"],["1676","8"],["1677","1"],["1678","7"],["1679","1"],["1680","2"],["1681","4"],["1682","2"],["1683","1"],["1684","7"],["1685","3"],["1686","1"],["1688","5"],["1693","3"],["1698","4"],["1699","8"],["1700","17"],["1701","17"],["1702","13"],["1703","2"],["1704","7"],["1705","5"],["1706","10"],["1707","8"],["1708","17"],["1709","8"],["1710","6"],["1711","18"],["1712","3"],["1713","10"],["1714","29"],["1715","17"],["1716","6"],["1717","2"],["1718","4"],["1719","9"],["1720","18"],["1721","19"],["1722","13"],["1723","17"],["1724","30"],["1725","14"],["1726","62"],["1727","34"],["1728","52"],["1729","54"],["1730","36"],["1731","40"],["1732","25"],["1733","17"],["1734","12"],["1735","41"],["1736","21"],["1737","21"],["1738","17"],["1739","20"],["1740","16"],["1741","18"],["1742","23"],["1743","27"],["1744","43"],["1745","21"],["1746","13"],["1747","26"],["1748","32"],["1749","33"],["1750","43"],["1751","390"],["1752","35"],["1753","42"],["1754","28"],["1755","55"],["1756","25"],["1757","29"],["1758","64"],["1759","81"],["1760","37"],["1761","68"],["1762","29"],["1763","52"],["1764","58"],["1765","27"],["1766","94"],["1767","61"],["1768","112"],["1769","37"],["1770","98"],["1771","34"],["1772","88"],["1773","65"],["1774","104"],["1775","73"],["1776","111"],["1777","79"],["1778","81"],["1779","69"],["1780","38"],["1781","171"],["1782","186"],["1783","121"],["1784","142"],["1785","62"],["1786","69"],["1787","160"],["1788","212"],["1789","182"],["1790","170"],["1791","177"],["1792","180"],["1793","160"],["1794","138"],["1795","178"],["1796","237"],["1797","175"],["1798","286"],["1799","543"],["1800","263"],["1801","362"],["1802","335"],["1803","503"],["1804","463"],["1805","316"],["1806","452"],["1807","571"],["1808","374"],["1809","389"],["1810","648"],["1811","849"],["1812","534"],["1813","456"],["1814","538"],["1815","461"],["1816","485"],["1817","635"],["1818","648"],["1819","705"],["1820","694"],["1821","662"],["1822","828"],["1823","898"],["1824","1281"],["1825","1154"],["1826","1141"],["1827","824"],["1828","720"],["1829","731"],["1830","857"],["1831","939"],["1832","847"],["1833","923"],["1834","905"],["1835","1037"],["1836","886"],["1837","931"],["1838","982"],["1839","1006"],["1840","1196"],["1841","1108"],["1842","876"],["1843","904"],["1844","1338"],["1845","1277"],["1846","1476"],["1847","1450"],["1848","1430"],["1849","1711"],["1850","1740"],["1851","1447"],["1852","1708"],["1853","1740"],["1854","2297"],["1855","1812"],["1856","2100"],["1857","1604"],["1858","1455"],["1859","1525"],["1860","1816"],["1861","1543"],["1862","1399"],["1863","1400"],["1864","1405"],["1865","1203"],["1866","1836"],["1867","1594"],["1868","1367"],["1869","1697"],["1870","1398"],["1871","1619"],["1872","1599"],["1873","1720"],["1874","1743"],["1875","2004"],["1876","2020"],["1877","1990"],["1878","1996"],["1879","1951"],["1880","2423"],["1881","2367"],["1882","2346"],["1883","2719"],["1884","2338"],["1885","2440"],["1886","2298"],["1887","2187"],["1888","2132"],["1889","1931"],["1890","2346"],["1891","2657"],["1892","2903"],["1893","2862"],["1894","2596"],["1895","3136"],["1896","4054"],["1897","3502"],["1898","3523"],["1899","4227"],["1900","4438"],["1901","4789"],["1902","4133"],["1903","4010"],["1904","4485"],["1905","4164"],["1906","4804"],["1907","5135"],["1908","4564"],["1909","4058"],["1910","4433"],["1911","4254"],["1912","4669"],["1913","4455"],["1914","3948"],["1915","3447"],["1916","3089"],["1917","3273"],["1918","2513"],["1919","3345"],["1920","3651"],["1921","4347"],["1922","4218"],["1923","4392"],["1924","4744"],["1925","4641"],["1926","4299"],["1927","4909"],["1928","4452"],["1929","4404"],["1930","4533"],["1931","4152"],["1932","3680"],["1933","3061"],["1934","3669"],["1935","4434"],["1936","4045"],["1937","3804"],["1938","3661"],["1939","3427"],["1940","3422"],["1941","2609"],["1942","2683"],["1943","2430"],["1944","2576"],["1945","2771"],["1946","3884"],["1947","4457"],["1948","4745"],["1949","5044"],["1950","4877"],["1951","4777"],["1952","4535"],["1953","4378"],["1954","4829"],["1955","5310"],["1956","5841"],["1957","5801"],["1958","5772"],["1959","6058"],["1960","6963"],["1961","7439"],["1962","7987"],["1963","8913"],["1964","8971"],["1965","9147"],["1966","9620"],["1967","9995"],["1968","10736"],["1969","10704"],["1970","11039"],["1971","9700"],["1972","10133"],["1973","9479"],["1974","9204"],["1975","8991"],["1976","9427"],["1977","9701"],["1978","9797"],["1979","9769"],["1980","10207"],["1981","9572"],["1982","10012"],["1983","10867"],["1984","10924"],["1985","11176"],["1986","11950"],["1987","12342"],["1988","12319"],["1989","13402"],["1990","13837"],["1991","13504"],["1992","13993"],["1993","14917"],["1994","14507"],["1995","15753"],["1996","16820"],["1997","16742"],["1998","17677"],["1999","18493"],["2000","20883"],["2001","20166"],["2002","21680"],["2003","23705"],["2004","27180"],["2005","24879"],["2006","28285"],["2007","31623"],["2008","44165"]]

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use austere in a sentence?

1. Vicente Sanchez:

   He should understand the risk, and that once he's elected, he doesn't owe it to himself, but to the country, he has too much desire to go down in history as an austere figure, close to the people.

2. Dan Egan:

   The point is not to be as austere as possible and deprive yourself of all joy, the point is to get to a right balance.

3. Ed Murray:

   Our goal is to replace our regressive tax system with a new formula for fairness, while ensuring Seattle stands up to President Trump's austere budget that cuts transportation, affordable housing, healthcare, and social services.

4. Oprah Winfrey:

   The role that she's taken on it's very austere, it's very sort of serious and I think there's a great weight that she has ... acquired through that and she takes it very seriously, i think it was the last moment probably that she could reflect sort of the other side to her ... the joy and the human within her.

5. Lpez Obrador:

   Its going to resolve the problem of saturation at the current Mexico City airport , but also be an example of how you can carry out a rational, austere policy based on honesty that needs to establish itself as the way to live and the way to govern in our country.