Severe /(?)/

Se·vere

Severe

a.
  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.
    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.
    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.