1 : unkind or cruel or uncivil; "had harsh words"; "a harsh and unlovable old tyrant"; "a rough answer"
2 : not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty; "grim determination"; "grim necessity"; "Russia's final hour, it seemed, approached with inexorable certainty"; "relentless persecution"; "the stern demands of parenthood"
3 : very bad in degree or extent; "a severe worldwide depression"; "the house suffered severe damage"
4 : unjustly domineering; "incensed at the government's heavy-handed economic policies"; "a manager who rode roughshod over all opposition"
5 : of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect; "an austere expression"; "a stern face"
6 : intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality; "severe pain"; "a severe case of flu"; "a terrible cough"; "under wicked fire from the enemy's guns"; "a wicked cough"
7 : unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or judgment; "a parent severe to the pitch of hostility"- H.G.Wells; "a hefty six-footer with a rather severe mien"; "a strict disciplinarian"; "a Spartan upbringing"
adjectif
1 : having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course
2 : (of weather or climate) not mild; subject to extremes
