different between severe vs ungentle

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

From un- +? gentle.

Adjective

ungentle (comparative more ungentle, superlative most ungentle)

1. Showing a lack of gentleness, kindness or compassion.

   Synonyms: cruel, harsh, rough, unkind

   • 1551, Ralph Robinson (translator), Utopia by Thomas More, London: Abraham Vele, Book 1,^[1]

     […] Moyses lawe, thoughe it were vngentle and sharpe […] yet it punnyshed thefte by the purse, and not wyth deathe.

   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1, Act V, Scene 1,^[2]

     You have […] made us doff our easy robes of peace,

     To crush our old limbs in ungentle steel:

   • 1770, Francis Gentleman, The Dramatic Censor, London: J. Bell, Volume 2, p. 110,^[3]

     […] a well-conceived squabble arises, and very ungentle terms ensue:

   • 1848, Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, London: T. C. Newby, Volume 2, Chapter , p. 253,^[4]

     At length, however, the boisterous pastime terminated—suddenly, as might be expected: the little one was hurt and began to cry; and its ungentle playfellow tossed it into its mother’s lap, bidding her “make all straight.”

   • 1993, Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy, New York: HarperCollins, Chapter 12.16, p. 805,^[5]

     ‘Dagh Sahib, a woman by herself—what place can she find in an ungentle world?’

2. (obsolete) Not acting according to accepted ethics or standards of behaviour.

   Synonyms: base, villainous, wicked

   • 1548, Edward Hall, The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre and Yorke, London: Richard Grafton, King Henry VI, year 15, p. 135,^[6]

     […] this vngentle prince, and forgetfull frend, puttyng in obliuion, bothe the dutie of his obeysaunce, toward his souereigne and liege lorde, and the oth and promise, that he made to kyng Henry, […] turned his backe to his frend and kynsman, and loked to the French part, whiche neuer did hym honor nor profite,

   • 1579, Anthony Munday, The Mirrour of Mutabilitie, London: John Allde, Book 2,^[7]

     What more deceit? then look thy Fréend in face:

     And woork his death, in most vngentle case.

   • c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act III, Scene 2,^[8]

     Ungentle queen, to call him gentle Suffolk!

     No more, I say: if thou dost plead for him,

     Thou wilt but add increase unto my wrath.

   • 1629, John Ford, The Lover’s Melancholy, London: H. Seile, Act III, Scene 1, p. 42,^[9]

     I will reward thee:

     But as for him, vngentle Boy, Ile whip

     His falshood with a vengeance.

Derived terms

• ungentleness
• ungently

Translations