FromMiddle French, fromLatinseverus(“severe, serious, grave in demeanor”).

• (UK)IPA^(key):/sɪˈvɪə/

  Audio(UK):

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• (US)IPA^(key):/sɪˈvɪɹ/

  Audio(US):

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• (Canada)IPA^(key):/sɪˈviːɹ/,/-vɪɹ/
• Rhymes:-ɪə(ɹ)

severe (comparativesevererormoresevere,superlativeseverestormostsevere)

1. Verybad orintense.

   Synonyms:extreme,intense

   Antonyms:mild,minor

   • 1934,Your Germs and Mine, page295:

     In theseverer cases of hookworm the patient sometimes has an appetite for soil, paper, hair, clay, chalk, starch, and other unpalatables.

   • 1973,Oliver Sacks,Awakenings:

     Parkinsonism, at itsseverest, presents itself as an akinetic amimia (as opposed to certain cortical disorders which are amimic akinesias).

   • 2012 January, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, inAmerican Scientist‎^[1], volume100, number 1, archived fromthe original on26 January 2012, page70:

     Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught insevere drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.

2. Strict orharsh.

   Synonyms:brutal,hard,heartless,heavy,rigorous,serious;see alsoThesaurus:stern

   Antonym:lenient

   asevere taskmaster

3. Sober,plain inappearance,austere.

   Synonyms:modest,simple;see alsoThesaurus:unadorned

   asevere old maiden aunt

   severe clothing

• “severe”, inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “severe”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.
• “severe”, inOneLook Dictionary Search.

• Reeves,everse,reeves,servee

• IPA^(key):/seˈvere/
• Rhymes:-ere
• Hyphenation: se‧ve‧re

severe

1. severely

• severa

• IPA^(key):/seˈvɛ.re/
• Rhymes:-ɛre
• Hyphenation:se‧vè‧re

severe

1. feminineplural ofsevero

• sevēre:(Classical Latin)IPA^(key):/seˈu̯eː.re/,[s̠eˈu̯eːrɛ]
• sevēre:(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical)IPA^(key):/seˈve.re/,[seˈvɛːre]
• sēvēre:(Classical Latin)IPA^(key):/seːˈu̯eː.re/,[s̠eːˈu̯eːrɛ]
• sēvēre:(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical)IPA^(key):/seˈve.re/,[seˈvɛːre]

sevēre

1. vocativemasculinesingular ofsevērus

sēvēre

1. third-personpluralperfectactiveindicative ofserō

• “severe”, inCharlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879)A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “severe”, inCharlton T. Lewis (1891)An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• severe inGaffiot, Félix (1934)Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

severe (Cyrillic spellingсевере)

1. vocativesingular ofsever