Link Centre Dictionary

severity

se·ve·rity

UK/sɪˈvɛɹ.ɪ.ti/ US/səˈvɛɹ.ə.ti/ uncommon

noun

1.

used of the degree of something undesirable e.g. pain or weather

Synonyms
2.

something hard to endure

  • “the asperity of northern winters”
Synonyms
3.

excessive sternness

  • “severity of character”
  • “the harshness of his punishment was inhuman”
  • “the rigors of boot camp”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English severity, from Middle French severite (modern French sévérité), from Latin sevēritās. By surface analysis, severe + -ity.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.