Advanced and Proficiency Vocabulary for Exams(e.g.GRE, Banks, Civil Services, SAT / LSAT). For IELTS/TOEFL, and everyday spoken vocabulary, go to our Spoken Vocabulary Database.
The meaning of the word ‘austere’ as seen above can be adapted for various uses. It can be used to refer to a person who exhibits those traits, a strict way of life, something basic and lacking in comfort, or to express a severe limit on money or goods. The term is not necessarily always a negative; for example an austere diet may be good for you, but it never connotes something pleasurable.
The accommodation was clean, but quite austere. I would have preferred to stay somewhere more comfortable.
My grandfather was an austere man who rarely laughed and never joked.
After the financial crash, society was reduced to a state of austerity for a number of years.