Austerer

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. An individual who maintains a life defined by rigor and discipline
2. Someone who lives with strict simplicity and self-denial, avoiding luxury or excess
3. A person who enforces a lifestyle of severe restraint and minimalism in habits and possessions

Etymology: Austerer is the comparative of "austere," so it means more strictly simple or self-denying than something else. The adjective began as a sensory word. Its ancient Greek source, "austērós," meant "bitter" or "harsh," and was used especially of fruits and wines that left the tongue dry and puckered. That sense of drying and astringency came first, and the moral sense of stern, unindulgent living grew out of it. The link runs through "aúō," meaning "to singe," and "aûos," meaning "dry." Both point to something parched and withered, which explains why a taste that dries the mouth could come to stand for a life stripped of comfort. A person who gives up luxuries is, in a sense, living without the sweetness that softens things.

Synonyms: stern, severe, strict, harsh, grim

Antonyms: lenient, gentle, easygoing, permissive, soft