severe

adj

1. extreme, stringent, strict, harsh, rough; inflexible, uncompromising, unbending, unyielding, obdurate, flinty, rigid; persistent, unremitting, inexorable, implacable, relentless; merciless, pitiless, unfeeling, unsympathetic, inhuman, cruel, brutal, savage; ruthless, cold-blooded, hard-hearted, iron-handed, iron-fisted, iron-hearted; despotic, peremptory; autocratic, tyrannical, abusive, punitive; distressing, agonizing, afflictive, torturous, tormenting, excruciating, racking; painful, insufferable, unbearable, overpowering, overwhelming; stinging, galling, sharp, bitter, caustic; piercing, biting, cutting, incisive, penetrating.

2. serious, sober, sedate, somber, grave; formal, aloof, cold, distant, stiff, tight, stilted; stern, grim, austere, hard, forbidding, strait-laced, puritanical.

3. grave, critical, acute, dire, fatal, mortal; dreadful, fearful, awful, dangerous, risky, hazardous, perilous, Inf. hairy; uncertain, touchy, touch-and-go, Inf. chancy.

4. simple, plain, modest, bare, blank, stark, Spartan, ascetic; unadorned, untrimmed, unembroidered, unembellished, unornamental, undecked; unfurbished, undecorated, unvarnished, unpainted.

5. inclement, stormy, raging, tempestuous, turbulent; freezing, frigid, frozen; hot, steaming, burning, sweltering; drastic, acute, intense, violent, fierce, furious.

6. exacting, rigorous, tough, demanding, exigent, fastidious, Rare. exactive; unsparing, grinding, oppressive, burdensome, grievous, onerous, heavy; difficult, painstaking, close, searching; arduous, laborious, toilsome, operose; trying, troublesome, uphill.