Austere: meaning and SAT practice

Austere (adjective) means: Severe, strict, and without decoration or luxury.

Austere in a sentence

The austere monastery had bare stone walls and simple furnishings.

Similar: severe, stark, spartan, strict, plain. Opposite: ornate, luxurious, lavish.

SAT-style practice: what does “austere” most nearly mean?

The austere monastery had bare stone walls and simple furnishings.

As used in the sentence, “austere” most nearly means

  1. wasteful
  2. severe
  3. unstable
  4. harmless
Show the answer

Answer: B. “austere” means: Severe, strict, and without decoration or luxury. “severe” is the closest match in this sentence. The other choices are real SAT-level words, but none of them carries that meaning here.

On the digital SAT this is the “Words in Context” skill, about 7 of the 54 Reading and Writing questions. The test asks what a word means as used in the passage, so a word’s most common meaning is not always the answer. More of these, with full explanations, are on SAT Words in Context practice questions.

  • astringent: Harsh or severe in taste, manner, or effect; causing contraction.
  • exacting: Demanding high standards and careful attention to detail.
  • inclement: Describing harsh or stormy weather conditions.
  • perspicuous: Clear and easy to understand; expressed in a way that is transparent.
  • obdurate: Stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or course of action.
  • pious: Devout and reverent in religious belief and practice.

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