severe

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

From Middle French, from Latin severus (“severe, serious, grave in demeanor”).

Fortunately the storm, though severe, was short. — For the Sake of the School, Angela Brazil
The winter was severe, Madame Bovary’s convalescence slow. — Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
Then something severe, something unusual must be done. — Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street, Herman Melville

terrible, wicked

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