Thesaurus
severe
Synonyms and Antonyms of severe
- a severe, uncompromising teacher who locked the classroom door precisely when the bell rang and let no one in afterward
adamant, adamantine, callous, hardened, hard-hearted, hard-line, immovable, implacable, inflexible, merciless, ossified, pitiless, relentless, rock-ribbed, stiff, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unsparing, unyielding
ascetic (also ascetical), monastic, monkish
determined, firm, resolved, single-minded, steadfast, unflinching
- clergymen who dressed in severe clothing
bleak, cold, hostile, inhospitable, inimical, unfriendly, unsympathetic
adamant, bound, determined, firm, intent, purposeful, resolute, resolved, steadfast, unflinching
fixed, hard, hardened, hardheaded, immovable, implacable, inflexible, ironhanded, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, rigid, self-willed, set, stiff, stubborn, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, willful (or wilful)
black, cheerless, dark, gloomy, glum, joyless, melancholic, moody, morose, sulky, sullen, surly
brooding, grave, humorless, melancholy, serious, sober, sobersided, solemn, somber (or sombre), staid, unsmiling, weighty
- the judge maintained a severe expression throughout the trial
antic, comic, comical, droll, farcical, funny, hilarious, hysterical (also hysteric), laughable, light, light-headed, ludicrous, ridiculous, riotous, risible, screaming, sidesplitting, uproarious
featherbrained, flighty, frivolous, goofy, harebrained, lighthearted, puerile, scatterbrained
absurd, asinine, balmy, brainless, cockeyed, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dotty, fatuous, foolish, half-witted, insane, jerky, kooky (also kookie), loony (also looney), lunatic, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, senseless, silly, unwise, wacky (also whacky), weak-minded, witless, zany
- a severe winter that was among the coldest on record
- a severe test of courage
arduous, Augean, backbreaking, challenging, demanding, difficult, effortful, exacting, formidable, grueling (or gruelling), hard, heavy, hellacious, herculean, killer, laborious, moiling, murderous, pick-and-shovel, rigorous, rough, rugged, stiff, strenuous, sweaty, tall, testing, toilsome, tough, uphill
abstract, abstruse, complex, complicated, elusive, hairy, insoluble, intricate, involved, knotty, opaque, problematic (also problematical), recondite, serious, spiny, stubborn, thorny, ticklish, tricky
bruising, burdensome, exhausting, labored, onerous, oppressive, stressful, taxing, tight, trying
annoying, bothersome, distressing, irksome, troublesome, vexatious
cheap, easy, effortless, facile, light, mindless, simple, soft, undemanding
Synonym Discussion of severe
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- severe military discipline
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- stern arbiters of public morality
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- living an austere life in the country
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- the ascetic life of the monks
Learn More about severe
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Dictionary: Definition of severe Spanish Central: Translation of severe Nglish: Translation of severe for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of severe for Arabic speakers
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