Severity1. (n.) The quality or state of being severe.
2. (n.) Gravity or austerity; extreme strictness; rigor; harshness; as, the severity of a reprimand or a reproof; severity of discipline or government; severity of penalties.
3. (n.) The quality or power of distressing or paining; extreme degree; extremity; intensity; inclemency; as, the severity of pain or anguish; the severity of cold or heat; the severity of the winter.
4. (n.) Harshness; cruel treatment; sharpness of punishment; as, severity practiced on prisoners of war.
5. (n.) Exactness; rigorousness; strictness; as, the severity of a test.
Thesaurus Entries
Spartan simplicity, Spartanism, abruptness, absolute zero, absoluteness, abusiveness, accuracy, acerbity, acidity, acidulousness, acridity, acrimony, acuteness, aggressiveness, algidity, aloofness, animality, asceticism, asperity, astringency, atrocity, attention to fact, austerity, authoritarianism, baldness, barbarity, bareness, bearishness, beastliness, bite, bitingness, bitterness, bleakness, bloodlust, bluntness, boorishness, brashness, briskness, brusqueness, brusquerie, brutality, burdensomeness, candor, care for truth, causticity, chill, chilliness, churlishness, cold, coldness, common speech, cool, coolness, coolth, correctness, crispness, crudeness, cruelty, crustiness, cryogenics, cryology, curtness, cuttingness, decrease in temperature, delicacy, demandingness, despotism, destructiveness, directness, discipline, edge, elementarity, exactingness, exactitude, exactness, exigency, extremity, faithfulness, fastidiousness, faultlessness, ferociousness, ferocity, fidelity, fierceness, fineness, flawlessness, flintiness, force, frankness, freezing point, freshness, frigidity, frostiness, fundamentality, furiousness, fury, gelidity, gravity, grievousness, grimness, grip, gruffness, hardness, harshness, homespun, homogeneity, household words, iciness, impetuosity, inclemency, inexorability, inexorableness, inflexibility, inhumanity, inornateness, integrity, intense cold, intensity, keenness, leanness, literalism, literality, literalness, low temperature, malignity, mathematical precision, matter-of-factness, meanness, mercilessness, meticulousness, mindlessness, modesty, monasticism, monism, mordacity, mordancy, murderousness, nastiness, naturalness, niceness, nicety, nip, nippiness, obduracy, obdurateness, oneness, onerousness, openness, oppression, oppressiveness, painfulness, perfection, piquancy, pitilessness, plain English, plain speaking, plain speech, plain style, plain words, plainness, poignancy, point, preciseness, precision, primitiveness, prosaicness, prosiness, pungency, punishment, punitiveness, purity, rawness, refinement, regimentation, relentlessness, restrainedness, right, rightness, rigid discipline, rigidity, rigor, rigorousness, roughness, ruggedness, rustic style, ruthlessness, savagery, seriousness, sharp air, sharpness, shortness, simpleness, simplicity, singleness, soberness, solemnity, sourness, spareness, sparseness, starkness, sternness, sting, storminess, straightforwardness, strictness, stridency, stringency, subtlety, surliness, tartness, teeth, tempestuousness, terrorism, textualism, the letter, toughness, trenchancy, truculence, tyranny, unadorned style, unadornedness, unadulteration, unaffectedness, unelaborateness, unfanciness, unfussiness, ungentleness, uniformity, unimaginativeness, unity, unmixedness, unpoeticalness, unsophistication, vandalism, vehemence, venom, vernacular, viciousness, violence, virulence