severelyadv.
/sᵻˈvɪəli/, U.S. /səˈvɪrli/ 1.
a. With rigour or extreme strictness in the treatment of offenders; with severity in judgement, punishment, censure or rebuke.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > strictness > [adverb] > strictly or severely of rules, judgement, or discipline
sharplyc900
fasteOE
straitlya1340
severely1548
sickerly1596
severe1599
strictly1602
society > authority > strictness > [adverb] > severely or sternly
sternlyc897
stitha1000
sterna1175
foulc1275
stithlya1300
steevely1340
austerely?a1400
smartlya1400
unsternlya1400
sore1484
shrewdly1490
dourlya1500
severely1548
roundly1567
severe1599
fiercely1611
piquantly1691
society > authority > punishment > [adverb] > severely
severely1548
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > harshness or severity > [adverb]
sternlyc897
sharplyc900
stitha1000
hardlyOE
starklyOE
sterna1175
stithlya1300
hardilyc1300
ruggedlya1382
austerely?a1400
smartlya1400
unsternlya1400
acerbly?a1425
brussly1481
sore1484
shrewdly1490
dourlya1500
severely1548
roundly1567
severe1599
strictly1602
fiercely1611
Draconically1641
rugged1661
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Asperè,..rigorously, seuerely.
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Duriter,.. cruelly, seuerely.
1573 T. Cartwright Replye to Answere Whitgifte 27 The transgressyons of the lawe in the tyme of the gospell oughte rather to be seuerelyer punyshed then they were vnder the lawe.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iii. i. 108 She..is..kept seuerely from resort of men. View more context for this quotation
1695 R. Blackmore Prince Arthur v. 144 Be mercifully Just, severely Kind.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 29 Olivarez had been heard to Censure very severely the Duke's..Want of Respect towards the Prince.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 431. ⁋2 My Master received Orders every Post to use me very severely.
1759 D. Hume Hist. Eng. under House of Tudor I. Mary i. 356 Taylor..was very severely handled, and was violently thrust out of the house.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xii. 209 Of legislation such as this it is impossible to speak too severely.
1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. I. i. 121 The treaty of 1709..was severely censured as too favourable to the Dutch.
b. With severe looks or demeanour.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > strictness > [adverb] > severely or sternly > of expression or manner
grimly1340
severely1565
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > harshness or severity > [adverb] > specifically of looks or expression
grimly1340
severely1565
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Exuere vultus seueros, to look no more seuerely.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 385 Whose Jaws with Iron Teeth severely grin.
1757 W. Wilkie Epigoniad vii. 225 Severely smiling, thus the hero spoke.
1898 W. W. Jacobs Money-changers in Sea Urchins (1906) 223 The fare, who had been leaning back in the stern with a severely important air.
c. With rigour or strictness in examining, revising, or the like.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > [adverb] > with careful exactness
gradely1340
just1417
featlya1450
accurately1581
severely1600
rigidly1610
cleanly1883
1600 Bp. J. Taylor Worthy Communicant ii. §3. 141 Here therefore it concerns us to examine our selves strictly and severely.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1679 (1955) IV. 172 Dr. LLoyd..with Dr. Burnet who had severely Examin'd him, came away astonish'd.
1821 C. Lamb in London Mag. Sept. 282/1 His house-keeping was severely looked after, but he kept the table of a gentleman.
1897 Daily News 6 May 6/2 He wrote best, as most Frenchmen do, in the morning, and corrected much less severely than Victor Hugo.
d. to leave or let severely alone: to avoid of set purpose; to pursue a deliberate policy of ignoring or isolating.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from (action) [verb (transitive)] > avoid or shun > have nothing to do with
to avoid (also shun, etc.) like the plague1699
to steer clear of1723
I wouldn't touch it (also him, her, etc.) with a ten-foot (also forty-foot) pole1838
to have no truck with1866
to leave or let severely alone1880
I wouldn't touch him (or it) with (the end of) a bargepole1890
ice1932
1880 C. S. Parnell Speech 19 Sept. in R. B. O'Brien Life C. S. Parnell (1898) I. 237 You must show him..by leaving him severely alone, by putting him into a moral Coventry..your detestation of the crime he has committed.
1886 Referee 20 June 5 (Cass.) England and her wants..are to be severely let alone.
1898 Dublin Rev. Oct. 276 The question was regarded as quite insoluble, and severely left alone.
2. With rigour or strictness in one's own practice or conduct; rigidly, inflexibly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > adaptability to circumstances > [adverb] > not
severe1599
severely1649
rigidly1791
1649 Bp. J. Hall Humble Motion to Parl. 38 Halfe a life need to be severely spent in learning them.
1703 N. Rowe Fair Penitent i. i. 207 With deadly Imprecations on her Self, She vow'd severely ne'er to see me more.
1726 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey IV. xvi. 36 Severely chaste Penelope remains.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. x. 254 My father is stern and strict in his temper, and severely true to his trust.
1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma iii. 79 Bishop Butler, in general the most severely exact of writers.
1889 Sat. Rev. 6 Apr. 415/1 Though they were severely orthodox.
3. With austere plainness or simplicity of style or taste.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > simplicity > [adverb]
plainlyc1385
simplyc1430
severely1656
simple1844
modestly1889
understatedly1972
1656 A. Cowley Davideis iii. 97 in Poems On's head an helm of well wrought brass is place'd, The top with warlike Plume severely grace'd.
1849 J. Ruskin Seven Lamps Archit. iii. 79 Severely rectilinear forms were associated with the curved ones in the cornice.
1878 M. E. Braddon Open Verdict I. 335 Dog-cart, severely painted darkest olive.
1885 Harper's Mag. Mar. 524/2 The fire-places..are severely plain.
4. Painfully, grievously; in a manner, or to a degree, that is distressing or hard to bear.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > severity > [adverb]
heavilyc897
sharplyc900
hardeOE
sharpc1000
sorec1000
hardlyOE
etelichec1175
sorelyc1275
straita1300
sourc1300
grievously1303
drearilya1400
foullya1400
felly?c1400
snapelyc1420
durely1477
penallya1500
shrewlya1529
shrewdlyc1533
asperously1547
heinouslya1555
sensibly1613
instantly1638
shrowardly1664
severelya1682
atrociously1765
punishingly1839
the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > [adverb]
unsoftOE
sharplya1023
derfly?c1225
derfc1325
pinefullyc1390
anguishouslyc1440
heinouslya1555
tormentingly1575
keenlya1593
cuttingly1611
torturingly?a1625
stingingly1667
severelya1682
piercingly1781
harrowingly1799
excruciatingly1808
martyrly1819
pinchingly1825
crucifyingly1826
torturously1857
woundingly1887
scarifyingly1921
a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) ii. 64 This the fallen Angels severely understand,..and more afflictively feel the contrary state of Hell.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 74 He..received the great and small Shot of one half of the Turkish Fleet, which he mawled severely.
1711 J. Swift Conduct of Allies 26 We have shamefully misapplied [our strength]..to Ends which after a Peace we may severely repent.
1778 F. Burney Evelina I. xxi. 164 I now most severely felt the folly of my plan.
1807 J. B. Wilkinson in Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (1810) ii. App. 25 The night was severely cold.
1861 ‘G. Eliot’ Silas Marner vi. 87 After this feeble delusive thaw, the silence set in as severely as before.
1867 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries (1886) viii. 107 The plague of boils broke out, and every one was attacked more or less severely.
1885 Manch. Examiner 16 May 6/1 The extremely cold nights..tell very severely on the elderly members of the House.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 121 The mangrove-swamp..stank severely.
5. colloquial. To a great or excessive degree, ‘not wisely but too well’. (Cf. severe adj. 11.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > extremely or exceedingly > excessively
cruellyc1385
overa1400
fullc1400
parlouslyc1425
mortalc1440
perilousc1440
spitefulc1450
devilish1560
pestilently1567
spitefully1567
cruel1573
parlous1575
deadly1589
intolerable?1593
fellc1600
perditlya1632
excessively1634
devilishly1635
desperate1636
woundya1639
woundlya1644
desperately1653
wicked1663
killing1672
woundily1706
wounded1753
mortally1759
dreadful1762
intolerably1768
perishing1776
tremendously1776
terrifically1777
diabolically1792
woundedly1794
thundering1809
all-firedly1833
preponderously1835
painfully1839
deadlilya1843
severely1854
furiously1856
diabolish1858
fiendish1861
demonish1867
sinfully1869
fiendishly1879
thunderingly1885
only too1889
nightmarishly1891
God almighty1906
Christ almighty1945
1854 G. J. Whyte-Melville Gen. Bounce xii That officer has dined ‘severely’, as he calls it, and is slightly inebriated.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adv.1548