austerest

Adjective

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

1. Grim or severe in manner or appearance.
   • The headmistress was an austere old woman.

   Synonyms:

   stern, strict, forbidding, ascetic, brutal, callous, cold, insensate, hardhanded, cold-eyed

2. Lacking decoration; trivial; not extravagant or gaudy.
   • The interior of the church was as austere as the parishioners were dour.

   Synonyms:

   simple, plain, unadorned, unembellished, bare, chaste, inornate, modest, quiet, severe

   Antonyms:

   overwrought, flamboyant, extravagant, gaudy, flashy, bedizened, blatant, blingish, brash, campy

3. Adhering to the economic policy of austerity.
   • Counterintuitively, in an effort to be austere and save money, cities which only remove a crossing every couple of years manage to be way less efficient at it than Melbourne has been.2024 December 14, Reece Martin, “Learning from Melbourne’s Level Crossing Removal Project” (9:05 from the start), in RMTransit
4. Harsh; astringent.
   • It is like a small plum, nearly globular in shape, black covered with a bluish bloom, and with a very austere taste.1862, Charles Pierpoint Johnson, The Useful Plants of Great Britain, page 85