austerity

noun

Definition of austeritynext
1
as in sacrifice
voluntary restraint in the satisfaction of one's appetites They moved off the grid to live a life of austerity.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words
2
as in gruffness
the quality or state of being stern and serious in manner or appearance His air of austerity tends to put others off.

Related Words

Dissimilar Words
3
as in deprivation
the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions His family spent years living in austerity during the recession.

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of austerity The unsettled partisan lines around this issue have allowed anger, rooted in decades of deindustrialization and public austerity, to flourish in the electorate. — Dan Kaufman, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2026 According to Strategas, once US debt-servicing costs, as a percentage of tax revenues, rise above 14%, there tends to be fiscal strain and austerity. — Bill Stone, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026 As poor residents poured into the streets in the wake of government austerity measures, the state responded with lethal force. — Tibisay Zea, Christian Science Monitor, 21 Aug. 2026 On the back of a million-pound investment in 2012, the community has organized to restore life to a deprived area hit hard by austerity. — Kyle Vanelli, STAT, 14 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for austerity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for austerity
  1. sacrifice
  2. gruffness
  3. deprivation
  4. discipline
  5. asceticism
  6. misery
  7. restraint
  8. severity
Noun
  • Beyond the sacrifice of American lives, American households have faced higher costs.
    — Justin Fishel, ABC News, 28 Aug. 2026
  • But to me, the fun of image editing is in the manual tweaks and edits, so like most AI tools, these NexSnap features sacrifice creativity for convenience.
    — Jordan Minor, PC Magazine, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of sacrifice
Noun
  • Mackay and Turner are both excellent, two movie stars who seem totally game to be asked to move with real gruffness.
    — Sam Bodrojan, IndieWire, 17 June 2026
  • But then Popper smiled and the arrival of opening day momentarily mellowed his gruffness.
    — Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 26 Mar. 2026
Definition of gruffness
Noun
  • Summary Quality sleep is crucial for leaders' performance, yet unpredictable schedules often lead to sleep deprivation, thus impairing vital cognitive functions like memory.
    — Julian Hayes II, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • The rare mental illness is linked to stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes following childbirth.
    — Michael Casey, Chicago Tribune, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of deprivation
Noun
  • The university, like campuses nationwide, is barred by federal privacy law from discussing individual discipline cases or internal deliberations, even when a student goes public.
    — Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Eisenhower possessed iron discipline, sunny self-confidence and a mind that loved organizational challenges.
    — John T. Shaw, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of discipline
Noun
  • In the face of fresh crisis, belief veered towards asceticism and sometimes mysticism.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 July 2026
  • Just books and plays, and an asceticism associated with the priests Jim would often play.
    — Carl Kurlander, Deadline, 13 June 2026
Definition of asceticism
Noun
  • Jordan, to whom scorn comes more naturally than grace, accuses him of envying the rest of the troupe’s ennobling misery.
    — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Some residents said hope is elusive given the island’s litany of miseries – from natural disasters to a bankrupt government to a financial control board that manages funding for infrastructure.
    — Isabel Rosales, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of misery
Noun
  • If the answer is yes, then waiting ceases to be a strategy of restraint and begins to look like gradual erosion of power and strength.
    — Hamidreza Azizi, Time, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Meghna Gulzar has a very distinctive voice and an ability to approach difficult subjects with both restraint and intensity.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of restraint
Noun
  • Tyreke Smith had a good month, but the severity of his hamstring injury could make Harris’ path cleaner.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Some recalls, Eskin said, are made after companies’ routine testing catches a pathogen before anyone gets sick, while others involve outbreaks that are already underway and vary widely in size and severity.
    — Dian Zhang, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of severity

Browse Nearby Words

austereness
austerity
Australian ballot
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Austerity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/austerity. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of apiary

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All