Synonyms of austerity

austerity

noun

1

as in sacrifice

voluntary restraint in the satisfaction of one's appetites

They moved off the grid to live a life of austerity.

Related Words

• sacrifice
• discipline
• restraint
• frugality
• asceticism
• self-denial
• mortification
• avoidance
• temperance
• self-mastery
• reasonableness
• control
• constraint
• reasonability
• self-discipline
• self-command
• temperateness
• self-containment
• self-control
• abnegation
• abstention
• rationality
• sensibleness
• eschewal
• forbearance
• sensibility
• soberness
• abstinence
• sobriety
• teetotalism
• moderation
• middle-of-the-roadism
• rationalness
• moderateness

Dissimilar Words

• excess
• extremity
• superfluity
• extremeness
• extremism
• unrestraint
• irrationality
• unreasonableness
• radicalness
• unconstraint
• excessiveness
• intemperance
• immoderation
• insobriety
• immoderateness
• immoderacy
• intemperateness

2

as in gruffness

the quality or state of being stern and serious in manner or appearance

His air of austerity tends to put others off.

Related Words

• gruffness
• asceticism
• severity
• monasticism
• determination
• obduracy
• dourness
• steadfastness
• austereness
• implacability
• callousness
• resolve
• pitilessness
• rigidity
• obstinacy
• stubbornness
• sternness
• firmness
• hard-heartedness
• strictness
• inflexibility
• obdurateness
• stringency
• harshness
• rigidness
• hardness
• rigor
• rigorousness
• exactingness

Dissimilar Words

• tolerance
• patience
• indulgence
• tenderness
• softness
• forbearance
• kindness
• flexibility
• gentleness
• lenience
• laxness
• mildness

3

as in deprivation

the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions

His family spent years living in austerity during the recession.

Related Words

• deprivation
• misery
• bankruptcy
• poverty
• privation
• belt-tightening
• emergency
• pinching
• wretchedness
• woe
• exigency
• straitening
• insolvency
• gutter
• impoverishment
• rainy day
• destitution
• penury
• necessity
• pauperism
• beggary
• indigence
• neediness
• impecuniosity
• poorness
• need
• impecuniousness
• penuriousness
• destituteness
• want

Dissimilar Words

• prosperity
• luxury
• wealth
• opulence
• affluence
• richness
• wealthiness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of austerity

The stop carries political overtones as cuts to disability funding have become a flashpoint in Milei’s austerity program. — ABC News, 21 Sep. 2026

Alternatively, policymakers can use monetary tightening and austerity measures to suppress import demand, restoring the trade surplus at similar export levels. — Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, Foreign Affairs, 8 Sep. 2026

All the austerity options—cutting spending, reforming entitlements, or raising taxes are measures politicians are reluctant to embrace before an election. — Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2026

Backers of the Amendment 3 proposal say the tax cuts would force local governments to reduce spending in a meaningful way without the kind of austerity that would mean rollbacks in public safety or other core services. — Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2026