different between severe vs surly

English

Etymology

From Middle French, from Latin severus (“severe, serious, grave in demeanor”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /s??v??/ (US) IPA^(key): /s??v?r/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Adjective

severe (comparative severer or more severe, superlative severest or most severe)

1. Very bad or intense.
2. Strict or harsh.

   a severe taskmaster

3. Sober, plain in appearance, austere.

   a severe old maiden aunt

Synonyms

Antonyms

• (very bad or intense): mild
• (very bad or intense): minor
• (strict or harsh): lenient

Derived terms

• severely (adverb)
• severity (noun)
• severeness (noun)

Translations

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• Reeves, everse, reeves, servee

Esperanto

Adverb

severe

1. severely

Related terms

• severa

Italian

Adjective

severe

1. feminine plural of severo

Latin

Verb

s?v?re

1. third-person plural perfect active indicative of ser?

Adjective

sev?re

1. vocative masculine singular of sev?rus

References

• severe in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• severe in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• severe in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

severe (Cyrillic spelling ??????)

1. vocative singular of sever

English

Etymology

16th-century alteration of sirly, from sir +? -ly.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s??li/
• Rhymes: -??(r)li

Adjective

surly (comparative surlier, superlative surliest)

1. Irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly.
2. Threatening, menacing, gloomy.

   The surly weather put us all in a bad mood.

3. (obsolete) Lordly, arrogant, supercilious.

Derived terms

• surliness

Translations

Adverb

surly (comparative surlier, superlative surliest)

1. (obsolete) In an arrogant or supercilious manner.
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, I.iii,

     Against the Capitol I met a lion / Who glazed upon me, and went surly by / Without annoying me […]

Middle English

Adverb

surly

1. Alternative form of surely