SEVERITY

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does severity mean? 

• SEVERITY (noun)
  The noun SEVERITY has 4 senses:

1. used of the degree of something undesirable e.g. pain or weather

2. something hard to endure

3. extreme plainness

4. excessive sternness

  Familiarity information: SEVERITY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEVERITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Used of the degree of something undesirable e.g. pain or weather

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

badness; severeness; severity

Hypernyms ("severity" is a kind of...):

intensity; intensiveness (high level or degree; the property of being intense)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "severity"):

foulness; raininess ((of weather) the badness of the weather)

distressfulness; seriousness (the quality of arousing fear or distress)

Derivation:

severe (very bad in degree or extent)

severe (intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something hard to endure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

asperity; grimness; hardship; rigor; rigorousness; rigour; rigourousness; severeness; severity

Context example:

the asperity of northern winters

Hypernyms ("severity" is a kind of...):

difficultness; difficulty (the quality of being difficult)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "severity"):

sternness (the quality (as of scenery) being grim and gloomy and forbidding)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Extreme plainness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

austereness; severeness; severity

Hypernyms ("severity" is a kind of...):

plainness (the appearance of being plain and unpretentious)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Excessive sternness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

hardness; harshness; inclemency; rigor; rigorousness; rigour; rigourousness; severeness; severity; stiffness

Context example:

the rigors of boot camp

Hypernyms ("severity" is a kind of...):

sternness; strictness (uncompromising resolution)

Derivation:

severe (unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or judgment)

 Context examples 

The clinical course varies and is, in part, dependent upon the severity of symptoms at presentation.

(Alcohol-Induced Wernicke-Korsakoff's Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

The results indicated that the degree of abnormality of the clock-gene expression is directly linked to the severity of the inflammatory response.

(New study sheds fresh light on the genetic mechanisms involved in sepsis, the leading cause of death in ICUs, University of Granada)

The only change was the severity of their skin disease.

(Study links psoriasis treatment and improvement in heart artery disease, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Many of these cases were unusual in severity, and caused or contributed to death.

(Deepwater Horizon oil spill contributed to high number of Gulf dolphin deaths, NOAA)

The results suggest heart failure severity could vary based on nitric oxide levels in the body.

(Heart Disease Severity May Depend on Nitric Oxide Levels, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Delusions: (frequency score x severity score).

(NPI - Delusions FxS Score, NCI Thesaurus)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Apathy/Indifference: (frequency score x severity score).

(NPI - Apathy/Indifference FxS Score, NCI Thesaurus)

The new compound was also able to assess the severity or stage of liver damage without the need of biopsy.

(New compound helps find early signs of liver damage, National Institutes of Health)

More research is needed to understand how these environmental factors interact with genes to contribute to the development of the disease and its severity.

(New study about genes linked to age-related macular degeneration, National Institutes of Health)

This instrument consists of 3 sections pertaining to the severity of the patient's illness, their level of improvement and a comparison of the therapeutic effect versus the side effects.

(Clinical Global Impression Questionnaire, NCI Thesaurus)