austerity

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.
2. (countable, uncountable) Freedom from adornment; plainness; severe simplicity.
3. (countable, uncountable) A policy of deficit-cutting, which by definition requires lower spending, higher taxes, or both.
4. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Sourness and harshness to the taste.

Synonyms

severity

sternness

strictness

rigour

asceticism

rigor

severeness

nonindulgence

harshness

austereness

simplicity

starkness

stringency

austerity engine

austerity engine

inhospitableness

nakedness

plainness

reduce

restraint

retrench

rigid

rigorism

rusticity

seriousness

severe

simpleness

singleness

solemnity

sterness

thrift

tighten

artlessness

frugalness

voluntary privation

violence

vehemence

astringency

bareness

chasteness

chastity

compression

condensation

contract

crudeness

dignity

earnestness

frugality

gravity

homeliness

Translations

austérité

austeridad

austerità

Strenge

austeridade

Einschränkung

Härte

austēritās

αυστηρότητα

απλότητα

Austerität

strengheid

limitazione

sévérité

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɔˈstɛɹɪti/

Etymology

From Ancient Greek αὐστηρότης (austērótēs, “bitter, harsh”). Morphologically austere + -ity.