austerity

Austerity means sternness, severity, or a state of extreme self-discipline or minimalistic living.

Austerity is the noun form of the adjective austere, which most commonly means extremely stern or strict or without any frills or luxuries.

The word is often used in the context of a national economy in which services and access to certain goods have been scaled back by the government during times of economic crisis. This sense is especially seen in the phrase austerity measures.����

The term is sometimes used in its plural form to refer to ascetic practices, like living in a monastery—think of a monk who lives in a bedroom with only a metal cot and eats plain rice every day.

Example: The government has turned to austerity to help curb the rising debt.

The first records of the word austerity in English come from around the late 1300s. It ultimately derives from the Greek ���ܲ���ŧ��ó��, meaning “harsh, rough, bitter.”

Austerity involves living in harsh, rough, and severely simple conditions. Sometimes, it’s on purpose. The austerities of life in a monastery are typically intended to help those who live there focus on the spiritual aspect of life without being distracted by anything that’s considered frivolous.

In many cases, though, austerity is not by choice. People forced to live in austerity must get along in the most minimalistic conditions, without any luxuries and often without some things that other people considered necessities. Austerity measures implemented by governments often involve cutting everything from the budget that’s not absolutely essential, leaving citizens to live in extremely austere conditions.

������ are some other forms of austerity?

• austere (adjective)

������ are some words that often get used in discussing austerity?

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• economy
• measures
• strict
• severe
• minimalist
• self-discipline
• ascetic
• practices
• abstinence

The word austerity is often used to refer to strict economic conditions.

Harvard's choice to do belt-tightening while sitting on a $41 billion endowment nicely shows how austerity is fundamentally a ritual performance meant to overwrite a moral narrative onto the set of priorities where money is more important than lives

— Tom Scocca (@tomscocca)

Greece heads towards historic no vote against austerity measures

— The Guardian (@guardian)

Early Monday morning, Saudi Arabia announced a slew of austerity measures to cope with the fiscal impact of the coronavirus pandemic and oil price rout, tripling its value-added tax and cutting a cost-of-living allowance for government workers:

— Vivian Nereim (@viviannereim)

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Which of the following words is MOST likely to be associated with austerity?

A. luxury
B. convenience
C. abundance
D. simplicity