austere meaning and definition

AUSTERE adjective

Definition of austere (adjective)

1. severely simple
   • "a stark interior"
   • synonyms: severe, stark, stern
2. of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect
   • "an austere expression"; "a stern face"
   • synonyms: stern
3. practicing great self-denial
   • "Be systematically ascetic...do...something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it"- William James; "a desert nomad's austere life"; "a spartan diet"; "a spartan existence"
   • synonyms: ascetic, ascetical, spartan