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austere |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Austere \Aus*tere"\, [F. aust[`e]re, L. austerus fr Gr ?, fr ? to parch, dry. Cf {Sear}.] 1. Sour and astringent; rough to the state; having acerbity; as an austere crab apple; austere wine. 2. Severe in modes of judging, or living, or acting; rigid; rigorous; stern; as an austere man, look life. From whom the austere Etrurian virtue rose. --Dryden. 3. Unadorned; unembellished; severely simple. Syn: Harsh; sour; rough; rigid; stern; severe; rigorous; strict. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: austere adj 1: severely simple; "a stark interior" [syn: {severe}, {stark}] 2: of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect; "an austere expression"; "a stern face" [syn: {stern}] 3: 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" [syn: {ascetic}, {ascetical}, {spartan}]
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