severe
- 1Very bad or intense, serious enough to cause significant harm or concern.
The region is facing a severe drought after months without rain.
He suffered severe injuries in the crash but is expected to recover.
UsageCommon with pain, damage and weather. It compares as more severe, most severe, though severer also occurs.
Note
This is the sense that measures harm by degree: severe drought, severe injuries, the severer cases of hookworm. Oliver Sacks writes of Parkinsonism "at its severest" in Awakenings (1973), and both comparative patterns are in use: severer and severest beside more severe and most severe. Its opposites, mild and minor, show the scale it sits on. What it describes is how much, not what kind.
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Oliver Sacks uses the words "at its severest" about Parkinsonism in Awakenings. en.wiktionary.org
- Awakenings, by Oliver Sacks, was first published in 1973. en.wikipedia.org
- 2Strict or harsh, showing little kindness or leniency in judgment, treatment, or punishment.
The new manager takes a severe approach to lateness, docking pay for every missed minute.
Critics gave the film a severe review, calling it a complete failure.
UsageOften severe with someone or severe on a fault; the usual opposite is lenient.
Similarharsh, strict, stern, hard, brutal
Oppositelenient
Note
A severe taskmaster demands much and forgives little, and the natural opposite is lenient. Set beside the "very bad" meaning, the test is whether it names harsh treatment or only a degree of harm. A severe sentence is a harsh punishment handed down; a severe injury measures only how much harm was done.
- 3Sober and plain in appearance; austere, without ornament, decoration, or softness.
His severe haircut and plain gray suit made him look older than he was.
The church's severe stone facade contrasts with its richly painted interior.
Similarplain, simple, austere, bare
Oppositeornate, elaborate, decorative, flamboyant
Note
Here severity becomes a look rather than a deed. It fits clothing, haircuts and stone facades, and people as they appear: a severe old maiden aunt is austere in dress and bearing, though she shades easily into the strict meaning. Plain and simple are neutral words. Severe suggests restraint chosen on purpose, a discipline made visible in the absence of ornament.
Practice
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Origin
Latin severus ("severe, serious, grave in demeanor") came into English through Middle French.