austerity

Noun

austerity (countable and uncountable, plural austerities)

1. Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.
   • The most rigid and noted of the English ladies resident in the French capital acknowledged and countenanced her; the virtuous Lady Elderbury, the severe Lady Rockminster, the venerable Countess of Southdown—people, in a word, renowned for austerity, and of quite a dazzling moral purity:—so great...1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 23, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published...
2. Freedom from adornment; plainness; severe simplicity.
   • One critic [Madeleine Schwartz] recently noted that the politics of Rooney’s novels were largely “gestural,” with airy mentions of Gaza or austerity protests but not much radical substance.2019 April 12, Annalisa Quinn, “The Small Rebellions of Sally Rooney’s Normal People”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 01 May 2020
   • The war-torn first half of the 20th century, together with the railway grouping of 1923, ushered in further austerity in design.2021 October 20, Dr Joseph Brennan, “A key part of our diverse railway heritage”, in RAIL, number 942, page 56
3. A policy of deficit-cutting, which by definition requires lower spending, higher taxes, or both.
   • He said France clearly wanted to "close one page and open another". He reiterated his opposition to austerity alone as the only way out of Europe's crisis: "My final duty, and I know I'm being watched from beyond our borders, is to put Europe back on the path of growth and employment."2012 April 23, Angelique Chrisafis, “François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election”, in the Guardian
4. (obsolete) Sourness and harshness to the taste.