小词详解 | austere

austere 英 [ɒˈstɪə(r)] 美 [ɔːˈstɪr]

SAT TEM8 GMAT GRE

外刊例句

• Conservative clerics have been muzzled and the vice police curbed, as the Saudis tone down their austere brand of Islam.
  随着沙特人设法缓和严厉的伊斯兰教教规，它捂住了保守的神职人员的嘴，限制了风化警队的权力。
  ——《经济学人》

• Something about the cavernous warehouse roof, the grid of fluorescent lighting and the austere, sterile design brought on a sense of familiarity.
  那洞穴般的仓库屋顶、发出荧光的灯光网格，还有朴素乏味的空间设计，让我心里涌起某种熟悉感。
  ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[adjective] severe or strict in manner or attitude
[形容词] 举止或态度上严厉或严格的

深入解读

Austere 一词源自古希腊语 austeros （苦涩的，尤指水果、葡萄酒等“使口干舌燥的”），于14世纪初经古法语 austere （严格的、严厉的、严酷的、残酷的）或直接经拉丁语 austerus （干的、酸的、酸涩的）进入英语，即用来指人在举止或态度上“严厉的、严格的、严肃的”，强调缺乏热情、趣味或情感等吸引人的品质，比如：

• 她的父亲身材高大，神色严肃，令人敬畏。
  Her father was a hefty, austere, formidable figure.

• 他处事严谨，与他爱张扬的妻子形成了鲜明的对比。
  He was a man of austere habits, in stark contrast to his more flamboyant wife.

一个内心严肃的人，其外在的生活往往是比较朴素的。因此 austere 也被用来形容人的生活条件或者生活方式“苦行的、禁欲的、简朴不奢华的”，暗含克制、克己、节俭、朴素以及在操行上一丝不苟等褒义，比如：

• 那位德高望重的老人过着十分简朴的生活。
  The venerable old man led an austere life.

等到了16世纪末后， austere 开始用来形容事物“朴素的、简朴的、简陋的、无华饰的”，即外观上朴实无华的，比如：

• 她那仅有一张窄床的简陋卧室一尘不染。
  Her austere bedroom with its simple narrow bed was kept immaculate.

此外， austere 也可以指经济政策措施上“紧缩的”，即通过增税、削减开支等严格的经济政策来减少预算赤字或公共债务，比如：

• 有必要采取紧缩的经济措施，以节省短缺且宝贵的外汇。
  It is necessary to adopt austere economic measures in order to spare scarce and valuable foreign exchange.

名著用例

Their lodgings were in a cottage a little further along the lane, but they came and assisted Tess in her departure, and argued that she should dress up in her very prettiest guise to captivate the hearts of her parents-in-law; though she, knowing of the austere and Calvinistic tenets of old Mr Clare, was indifferent, and even doubtful.
她们两个住的地方和苔丝在一条街上，和苔丝住的地方隔了一段路，在苔丝动身的时候都来帮助她。她们都劝苔丝穿上她最漂亮的衣服，这样才讨她公婆的欢心；但是苔丝知道老克莱尔先生是一个朴素的加尔文派，对这方面并不在乎，所以她就对她们的建议怀疑起来。

出自英国小说家托马斯·哈代（Thomas Hardy）的长篇小说《德伯家的苔丝》（Tess of the d'Urbervilles）。

同近义词

• ascetic: characterized by severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons

• dour: relentlessly severe, stern, or gloomy in manner or appearance

• stern: (of a person or their manner) serious and unrelenting, especially in the assertion of authority and exercise of discipline

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