noun
severity
sih-VAIR-uh-tee/sɪˈverəti/
The intensity of harshness or difficulty.
The branches show increasing severity of storm damage, from slight injury to complete breakage.
Etymology
The noun built on severus originally named sternness or strictness of life. As severe extended to harsh or distressing conditions, severity could express how serious or intense those conditions are.
In context
Although not usually associated with vomiting, the severity of these coughs can still mimic the pattern of other more intense conditions and should be taken seriously.
More examples
- The severity of the storm catches everyone by surprise.
- The punishment's severity seems unfair for such a small mistake.
- We rank the problems by severity and address the worst first.
Forms
severity
severe adjective — Very serious, harsh, or difficult.
severely adverb — To a harsh or serious degree.
Similar words
- seriousness
- Emphasizes importance or danger rather than harshness or strictness.
- intensity
- Emphasizes strength or degree without necessarily implying hardship or harm.
- harshness
- Emphasizes cruelty or unpleasantness rather than how serious something is.