Definition of Severity

Noun: severity si've-ri-tee

Used of the degree of something undesirable e.g. pain or weather
- badness, severeness
The quality of being hard to endure, uninviting or formidable
"the severity of northern winters";
- asperity, grimness, hardship, rigor [US], rigour [Brit, Cdn], severeness, rigorousness, rigourousness [Brit, non-standard]
Extreme plainness
- austereness, severeness
Excessive sternness
"severity of character";
- severeness, harshness, rigor [US], rigour [Brit, Cdn], rigorousness, rigourousness [Brit, non-standard], inclemency, hardness, stiffness