| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| austere |
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| SYLLABICATION: | aus·tere |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  ô-stîr |
| ADJECTIVE: | Inflected forms: aus·ter·er, aus·ter·est
1. Severe or stern in disposition or appearance; somber and grave: the austere figure of a Puritan minister. 2. Strict or severe in discipline; ascetic: a desert nomad's austere life. 3. Having no adornment or ornamentation; bare: an austere style. See synonyms at severe. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old French, from Latin aust rus, from Greek austros. | | OTHER FORMS: | aus·terely —ADVERB
aus·tereness —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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