Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Definition for SE-VER'I-TY
SE-VER'I-TY, n. [L. severitas.]
- Harshness; rigor; austerity; want of mildness or indulgence; as, the severity of a reprimand or reproof.
- Rigor; extreme strictness; as, severity of discipline or government.
- Excessive rigor; extreme degree or amount. Severity of penalties or punishments often defeats the object by exciting pity.
- Extremity; quality or power of distressing; as, the severity of pain or anguish.
- Extreme degree; as, the severity of cold or heat.
- Extreme coldness or inclemency; as, the severity of the winter.
- Harshness; cruel treatment; sharpness of punishment; as, severity practiced on prisoners of war.
- Exactness; rigor; niceness; as, the severity of a test.
- Strictness; rigid accuracy. Confining myself to the severity of truth. – Dryden.
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