Need another word that means the same as “austere”? Find 67 synonyms and 30 related words for “austere” in this overview.
The synonyms of “Austere” are: stern, severe, stark, ascetic, ascetical, spartan, strict, harsh, unfeeling, stony, steely, flinty, dour, grim, cold, frosty, frigid, icy, chilly, unemotional, unfriendly, formal, stiff, stuffy, reserved, remote, distant, aloof, forbidding, grave, solemn, serious, unsmiling, unsympathetic, unforgiving, uncharitable, self-denying, self-abnegating, moderate, temperate, sober, simple, frugal, restrained, self-disciplined, puritanical, self-sacrificing, hair-shirt, abstemious, abstinent, celibate, chaste, continent, plain, basic, functional, modest, unadorned, undecorated, unornamented, unembellished, unostentatious, unfurnished, uncluttered, unfussy, subdued, muted
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “austere” as an adjective can have the following definitions:
| abstemious | Marked by temperance in indulgence. Abstemious with the use of adverbs. |
| abstinent | Self-restraining; not indulging an appetite especially for food or drink. The patients are best advised to be totally abstinent from alcohol. |
| aloof | Conspicuously uninvolved. An aloof and somewhat austere figure. |
| ascetic | Pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic or the practice of rigorous self discipline. Be systematically ascetic do something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it. |
| ascetical | Practicing great self-denial- William James. |
| basic | (of rock, especially lava) relatively poor in silica. The food was good if a bit basic. |
| celibate | Abstaining from sexual intercourse. A celibate lifestyle. |
| chaste | Morally pure (especially not having experienced sexual intercourse. What is required of celibate Catholic clergy is to remain chaste. |
| chilly | Uncomfortably or unpleasantly cold. He got a chilly reception from Republican activists. |
| cold | Of a person feeling uncomfortably cold. Cold fury gripped him. |
| continent | Having control over urination and defecation. |
| distant | (after a measurement) at a specified distance. A distant likeness. |
| dour | Showing a brooding ill humor- Bruce Bli. The proverbially dour New England Puritan. |
| flinty | (of a person or their expression) very hard and unyielding. Flinty soil. |
| forbidding | Threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments. A forbidding scowl. |
| formal | Being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements as e g of formal dress. I don t know enough about art to appreciate the purely formal qualities. |
| frigid | Devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of unfriendliness or disdain. My ex told everyone I was frigid. |
| frosty | Covered with frost. Got a frosty reception. |
| frugal | Sparing or economical as regards money or food. A frugal meal. |
| functional | Designed for or adapted to a function or use. Functional deafness. |
| grave | Of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought. Faced a grave decision in a time of crisis. |
| grim | Shockingly repellent; inspiring horror. A grim joke. |
| hair-shirt | Self-sacrificing or austere. |
| harsh | Of textures that are rough to the touch or substances consisting of relatively large particles. Had harsh words. |
| icy | Devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of unfriendliness or disdain. Icy hands. |
| moderate | Not extreme. Moderate success. |
| modest | Humble in spirit or manner; suggesting retiring mildness or even cowed submissiveness. The modest women wear long sleeved dresses and all but cover their faces. |
| muted | In a softened tone. The muted hum of the distant traffic. |
| plain | Easy to perceive or understand; clear. A plain honest man with no nonsense about him. |
| puritanical | Having or displaying a very strict or censorious moral attitude towards self-indulgence or sex. His puritanical parents saw any kind of pleasure as the road to damnation. |
| remote | (of a chance or possibility) unlikely to occur. The remote past or future. |
| reserved | Marked by self-restraint and reticence. A reserved seat. |
| restrained | (of colour, decoration, etc.) not excessively showy or ornate; understated. The drawings with their restrained colours give a feeling of peace and contemplation. |
| self-abnegating | Used especially of behavior. |
| self-denying | Used especially of behavior. |
| self-disciplined | Used of nonindulgent persons. |
| self-sacrificing | Willing to deprive yourself. |
| serious | Solemn or thoughtful in character or manner. A serious wound. |
| severe | Severely simple. A severe attack of asthma. |
| simple | (botany) of leaf shapes; of leaves having no divisions or subdivisions. A simple substance. |
| sober | Dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises. As sober as a judge. |
| solemn | Characterized by a firm and humorless belief in the validity of your opinions. He swore a solemn oath to keep faith. |
| spartan | Of or relating to or characteristic of Sparta or its people. The accommodation was fairly spartan. |
| stark | Providing no shelter or sustenance. The stark reality of life for millions of young people. |
| steely | Resembling steel as in hardness. Steely eyes. |
| stern | Of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor forbidding in aspect. A stern disciplinarian. |
| stiff | (of a person or their manner) not relaxed or friendly; constrained. A palace guardsman stiff as a poker. |
| stony | Showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings. Rough stony paths. |
| strict | Characterized by strictness severity or restraint. Civil servants are bound by strict rules on secrecy. |
| stuffy | (of a person) not receptive to new or unusual ideas; conventional and narrow-minded. Hot and stuffy and the air was blue with smoke. |
| subdued | Not brilliant or glaring. A subdued whisper. |
| temperate | Free from extremes; mild; or characteristic of such weather or climate. The temperate zones. |
| unadorned | Not decorated with something to increase its beauty or distinction. The unadorned truth. |
| uncharitable | Lacking love and generosity. All pious words and uncharitable deeds. |
| uncluttered | Having nothing extraneous. An uncluttered room. |
| undecorated | Not adorned or decorated. The walls were completely undecorated. |
| unembellished | Not embellished or decorated. The unembellished truth. |
| unemotional | Cool and formal in manner. A flat unemotional voice. |
| unfeeling | Devoid of feeling for others. An unfeeling wretch. |
| unforgiving | Not willing to forgive or excuse people’s faults or wrongdoings. A surly unforgiving old woman. |
| unfriendly | Not easy to understand or use. An unfriendly action to take. |
| unfurnished | Not supplied. An unfurnished apartment. |
| unfussy | Not fussy. A simple unfussy design. |
| unornamented | Not having any decoration. Functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete. |
| unostentatious | Not ostentatious. Unostentatious elegance. |
| unsmiling | (of a person or their manner or expression) serious or unfriendly; not smiling. His face was hard and unsmiling. |
| unsympathetic | Not sympathetic or disposed toward. People unsympathetic to the revolution. |
| abstemious | Sparing in consumption of especially food and drink. The pleasures of the table never of much consequence to one naturally abstemious. |
| abstinent | Self-restraining; not indulging an appetite especially for food or drink. The patients are best advised to be totally abstinent from alcohol. |
| ascetic | A person who follows an ascetic life. Be systematically ascetic do something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it. |
| asperity | Something hard to endure. He pointed this out with some asperity. |
| censorship | (in ancient Rome) the office or position of censor. We have strict censorship laws. |
| disciplinary | Concerning or enforcing discipline. A soldier will face disciplinary action after going absent without leave. |
| draconian | Of or relating to Draco or his harsh code of laws. The Nazis destroyed the independence of the press by a series of draconian laws. |
| exacting | Requiring precise accuracy. Certain highly specialized xerophytes are extremely exacting in their requirements. |
| extreme | The highest or most extreme degree of something. The extreme of applying for poor relief. |
| formalism | The use of forms of worship without regard to inner significance. There is a formalism which expresses the idea of superposition. |
| harsh | Sharply disagreeable; rigorous. The harsh realities of the world news. |
| inflexible | Not able to be changed or adapted to particular circumstances. Heavy inflexible armour. |
| martinet | Someone who demands exact conformity to rules and forms. A martinet of a staff officer. |
| moralist | A philosopher who specializes in morals and moral problems. |
| painstakingly | In a fastidious and painstaking manner. The property has been painstakingly restored by its current owners. |
| pedant | A person who pays more attention to formal rules and book learning than they merit. The royal palace some pedants would say the ex royal palace. |
| rigor | The quality of being valid and rigorous. The rigors of boot camp. |
| rigorous | (of a rule, system, etc.) strictly applied or adhered to. Rigorous application of the law. |
| rigour | Severity or strictness. His analysis is lacking in rigour. |
| severe | Severely simple. The house suffered severe damage. |
| severity | Excessive sternness. Hay fever symptoms vary in severity. |
| spartan | Of or relating to or characteristic of Sparta or its people. The accommodation was fairly spartan. |
| stern | Of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor forbidding in aspect. A stern face. |
| stoutly | With courage and determination. He stoutly maintained his innocence. |
| strict | Characterized by strictness severity or restraint. My father was very strict. |
| stringency | A state occasioned by scarcity of money and a shortage of credit. |
| stringent | Demanding strict attention to rules and procedures. Stringent safety measures. |
| stringently | In a stringent manner. The laws are stringently enforced. |
| unkind | Inconsiderate and harsh to others. You were terribly unkind to her. |
| unrelenting | Not giving way to kindness or compassion. The heat was unrelenting. |
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