1.Serious in feeling or manner; sedate; grave; austere; not light, lively, or cheerful. "Your looks alter, as your subject does, From kind to fierce, from wanton to severe."
2.Very strict in judgment, discipline, or government; harsh; not mild or indulgent; rigorous; as, severe criticism; severe punishment. "Custody severe." "Come! you are too severe a moraler." "Let your zeal, if it must be expressed in anger, be always more severe against thyself than against others."
3.Rigidly methodical, or adherent to rule or principle; exactly conformed to a standard; not allowing or employing unneccessary ornament, amplification, etc.; strict; said of style, argument, etc. "Restrained by reason and severe principles." "The Latin, a most severe and compendious language."
4.Sharp; afflictive; distressing; violent; extreme; as, severe pain, anguish, fortune; severe cold.
5.Difficult to be endured; exact; critical; rigorous; as, a severe test.
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