Webster's English Dictionary

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severe

se.vere \s*-'vi(*)r\ aj [MF or L; MF, fr. L severus] 1a: strict in 
   judgment, discipline, or government  1b: of a strict or stern bearing or 
   manner : AUSTERE  2: rigorous in restraint, punishment, or requirement : 
   STRINGENT,  RESTRICTIVE 3: strongly critical or condemnatory : CENSORIOUS 
   {~ criti c} 4a: maintaining a scrupulously exacting standard of behavior or 
   self-disci pline 4b: establishing exacting standards of accuracy and 
   integrity in intellect ual processes {~ logician} 5: sober or restrained in 
   decoration or manner : PLAIN  6a: inflicting physical discomfort or 
   hardship : HARSH {~  winter} 6b: inflicting pain or distress : GRIEVOUS {~ 
   wound}  7: requiring great effort : ARDUOUS {~ test}  8: of a great degree 
   : MARKED, SERIOUS {~ economic d epression} or requiring discipline or 
   restraint. SEVERE implies standards enforced without indulgence or laxity 
   and may suggest harshness; STERN stresses inflexibility and inexorability 
   of temper or character; AUSTERE stresses absence of warmth, color, or 
   feeling and may apply to rigorous restraint, simplicity, or self-denial; 
   ASCETIC implies abstention from pleasure and comfort or self-indulgence as 
   spiritual discipline and may even suggest the courting of what is hard or 
   painful or disagreeable - se.vere.ly av SYN syn SEVERE, STERN, AUSTERE, 
   ASCETIC mean showing