Austere means strictly plain and without comfort. An austere room, an austere man, austere beauty.
It is neutral or admiring of design and severe of a person — austere describes deliberate plainness rather than poverty, which is the distinction. In economics, austerity means cutting public spending to reduce debt. Note that the Greek meant harsh or drying to the tongue, and was said of wine.
1adjectiveaustereStrictly plain and without comfort.
“The monks lived in austere cells with just a bed and a wooden chair.”
synonyms: spartan, severe
austere is a quality of plainness.
Also accepted in games: severe, spartan
The Greek behind it is dry. An austere room is a dry one: nothing soft, nothing spare, nothing for comfort.
hooks ontodry
Greek austeros means harsh or drying to the tongue, said of unripe fruit and wine, from a root meaning dry.
Ancient Greek
αὐστηρός — bitter, harsh, astringent
English, today
austere
Built from
From Ancient Greek αὐστηρός (“bitter, harsh, astringent”), having the specific meaning “making the tongue dry” (originally used of fruits, wines), related to αὔω (“to singe”), αὖος (“dry”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA