austere

adj

1. Grim or severe in manner or appearance.

   “The headmistress was an austere old woman.”

   “Even the austere philosopher Immanuel Kant of Koenigsberg, it is said, whose habits were so regular that the citizens of that town set their watches by him, postponed the hour of his afternoon stroll when he received the news [of the fall of the Bastille], thus convincing Koenigsberg that a world-shaking event had indeed happened.”

2. Lacking decoration; trivial; not extravagant or gaudy.

   “The interior of the church was as austere as the parishioners were dour.”

   “So we come, at above street level, into the city, and to Canterbury East Station (9.8 miles). It is an austere, rather barn-like structure, with a high roof over the two platforms.”

3. Adhering to the economic policy of austerity.

   “Counterintuitively, in an effort to be austere and save money, cities which only remove a crossing every couple of years manage to be way less efficient at it than Melbourne has been.”

4. Harsh; astringent.

   “It is like a small plum, nearly globular in shape, black covered with a bluish bloom, and with a very austere taste.”