different between austere vs ferocious

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ???????? (aust?rós, “bitter, harsh”), having the specific meaning "making the tongue dry" (originally used of fruits, wines), related to ??? (aú?, “to singe”), ???? (aûos, “dry”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation): IPA^(key): /??st??(?)/, /???st??(?)/
• (US)
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /??sti?/, enPR: ôst?r?
  • (cot–caught merger, Inland Northern American): IPA^(key): /??sti?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Adjective

austere (comparative austerer or more austere, superlative austerest or most austere)

1. Grim or severe in manner or appearance

2. Lacking decoration; trivial; not extravagant or gaudy

Synonyms

• (grim or severe): stern, strict, forbidding
• (lacking trivial decoration): simple, plain, unadorned, unembellished

Antonyms

• (not lacking trivial decoration): overwrought, flamboyant, extravagant, gaudy, flashy

Derived terms

• austerity
• austerely

Translations

Italian

Adjective

austere f pl

1. feminine plural of austero

Latin

Adjective

aust?re

1. vocative masculine singular of aust?rus

References

• austere in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• austere in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Latvian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)Perhaps related to Ancient Greek ??????? (óstreon).

Pronunciation

Noun

austere f (5th declension)

1. oyster (certain edible bivalve mollusks of the order Ostreida)

Declension

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aust?rus.

Adjective

austere m or f (plural austeres)

1. austere; severe

Old French

Alternative forms

• haustere
• auster (masculine only)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aust?rus.

Adjective

austere m (oblique and nominative feminine singular austere)

1. (of a flavor) acrid; bitter
2. austere; severe

English

Etymology

Taken from Latin ferox (“wild, bold, savage, fierce”) (with the suffix -ous), from ferus (“wild, savage, fierce”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f???????s/
• Rhymes: -????s

Adjective

ferocious (comparative more ferocious, superlative most ferocious)

1. Marked by extreme and violent energy.
   • 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 376]:

     But it seemed to me that there were few faces like his, with the ferocious profile that brought to mind the Latin word rapax or one of Rouault's crazed death-dealing arbitrary kings.
2. Extreme or intense.

Synonyms

• fierce

Derived terms

• ferociously

Related terms

• ferity
• ferocity
• fierce
• feral

Translations

Further reading

• ferocious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ferocious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• ferocious at OneLook Dictionary Search