1
as in sacrifice
voluntary restraint in the satisfaction of one's appetites
They moved off the grid to live a life of austerity.
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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.
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3
as in misery
the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions
His family spent years living in austerity during the recession.
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Examples of austerity in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Meanwhile, the party’s rhetoric of fiscal austerity is wearing thin after 14 years, particularly against a background of inflation and rising prices.
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Katie Marie Davies, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 June 2024
Photo: Courtesy of Saman Amel The pair acknowledge a certain Scandinavian austerity in terms of ornamentation and detailing, and a color palette that is mostly muted.
—Simon Chilvers, Vogue, 18 June 2024
The Conservative Party’s infamous austerity measures repeatedly cut funding to the NHS throughout the 2010s, overwhelming the healthcare system and leaving it unprepared to deal with the COVID pandemic, as the U.K. COVID-19 Inquiry noted in its first report last year.
—Samantha Riedel, Them, 7 Aug. 2024
With so many arrests, the courts will face a challenge in processing all the charges at a time when the criminal justice system is overstretched, following years of austerity and the covid-19 pandemic.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 5 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for austerity 
Katie Marie Davies, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 June 2024
Photo: Courtesy of Saman Amel The pair acknowledge a certain Scandinavian austerity in terms of ornamentation and detailing, and a color palette that is mostly muted.
—Simon Chilvers, Vogue, 18 June 2024
The Conservative Party’s infamous austerity measures repeatedly cut funding to the NHS throughout the 2010s, overwhelming the healthcare system and leaving it unprepared to deal with the COVID pandemic, as the U.K. COVID-19 Inquiry noted in its first report last year.
—Samantha Riedel, Them, 7 Aug. 2024
With so many arrests, the courts will face a challenge in processing all the charges at a time when the criminal justice system is overstretched, following years of austerity and the covid-19 pandemic.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 5 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for austerity
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'austerity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Austerity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/austerity. Accessed 12 Sep. 2024.
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