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
• steadfastness
• dourness
• 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 misery

the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions

His family spent years living in austerity during the recession.

Related Words

• misery
• deprivation
• 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

Taxation levels are approaching those seen during the Second World War, while beloved and vital state institutions such as the National Health Service are struggling after years of austerity cuts and budget squeezes. — Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 25 June 2026

And austerity cost the average Briton half a year of life expectancy from 2010 to 2019, according to a study by the London School of Economics. — Alexander Smith, NBC news, 23 June 2026

Labour spurned the chance to tell a positive story about the need to hike taxes to mend Britain’s public services, gutted by years of Conservative austerity. — Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 22 June 2026

An end to austerity, with the fastest fall in NHS waiting lists for 17 years. — Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 22 June 2026