severe
Unsparing in intensity
Severe means harsh, strict, or intense to a degree that causes hardship or discomfort.
Severe weather brings dangerous conditions; a severe injury requires serious medical attention.
A severe person is stern and unsparing: a severe taskmaster.
Severe punishment is harsh; severe criticism is cutting.
The word suggests an extreme that tests endurance: severe pain, severe drought, severe consequences.
Savagely harsh or severe
- punishingExtremely taxing or severe
- cruelWillfully causing suffering
- mercilessShowing no clemency
- relentlessContinuing without pause
unforgiving · ruthless · pitiless · grueling · fierce · savage · bitter · biting
Severely exact and demanding
- rigidUnable to bend
- rigorousExtremely thorough and careful
- sternStrict or ship's aft
- exactingDemanding great care
demanding · uncompromising · inflexible · draconian · tough · unrelenting · unbending · unyielding
Expressing disapproval or importance
- graveSerious and worrying
- direExtremely serious or urgent
- life-threateningRisking death
- terminalAt the endpoint
fatal · lethal · dangerous · perilous · acute · extreme · profound · intense
Unpleasantly severe or rough
crippling · damaging · punishing · ruinous · devastating · onerous · burdensome · excessive
Severe and unadorned
- spartanRigorously simple, unadorned
- plainBasic and unremarkable
- bareLacking any covering
- minimalistOne favoring bare essentials
unadorned · unembellished · bleak · forbidding · grim · somber · unornamented · restrained
Intimidatingly stern or hostile
stony · flinty · steely · cold · hard · impassive · unyielding · disapproving
brutal
Savagely harsh or severe
relentless · unforgiving · ruthless · pitiless · grueling · fierce · savage · bitter · biting · cutting
stringent
Severely exact and demanding
exacting · demanding · uncompromising · inflexible · draconian · tough · unrelenting · unbending · unyielding · authoritarian
critical
Expressing disapproval or importance
- graveSerious and worrying
- direExtremely serious or urgent
- life-threateningRisking death
terminal · fatal · lethal · dangerous · perilous · acute · extreme · profound · intense · drastic
harsh
Unpleasantly severe or rough
crushing · crippling · damaging · punishing · ruinous · devastating · onerous · burdensome · excessive · disproportionate
stark
Severe and unadorned
minimalist · unadorned · unembellished · bleak · forbidding · grim · somber · unornamented · restrained · simple
forbidding
Intimidatingly stern or hostile
unsmiling · stony · flinty · steely · cold · hard · impassive · unyielding · disapproving · formidable
- Danger Levelsdanger, high risk, high-risk, low risk, critical
- harsh tonesharsh, sharp, biting, cutting, caustic
- intensity levelshigh, low, moderate, medium, intense
- strictstern, harsh, rigid, firm, tough
- extremenessextreme, excess, overkill, intensity, overdose
- intensitieshigh, low, strong, weak, intense
severeornate
Elaborately decorated
elaborate · fancy · decorative · flamboyant · embellished
- severe weatherDangerous atmospheric phenomena
- severe painAcute physical distress
- severe thunderstormIntense storm with lightning
- severe depressionDebilitating mood disorder
- severe weather alertNotice of dangerous atmospheric conditions
- severe bleedingDangerous rapid blood loss
severity, severely, persevere, severest, severer, severeness, severities