austerity
/ɔˈstɛɹɪti/ noun
Forms austerities
- noun Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.
- noun Freedom from adornment; plainness; severe simplicity.
- noun (economics) A policy of deficit-cutting, which by definition requires lower spending, higher taxes, or both.
- noun (obsolete) Sourness and harshness to the taste.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Ancient Greek αὐστηρότης (austērótēs, “bitter, harsh”). Morphologically austere + -ity.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Sourness and harshness to the taste. [Obs.] Horsley.
- noun Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.
Etymology [F. austérité, L. austerias, fr. austerus. See Austere.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “austerity”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details