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Frigid vs Austere - What's the difference?

frigid | austere | Synonyms |

Frigid is a synonym of austere.


As adjectives the difference between frigid and austere

is that frigid is very cold; lacking warmth; icy while austere is austere.

frigid

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Very cold; lacking warmth; icy.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-03
    • , author=Nancy Langston , title=Mining the Boreal North , volume=101, issue=2, page=98 , magazine= citation , passage=Reindeer are well suited to the taiga’s frigid winters. They can maintain a thermogradient between body core and the environment of up to 100 degrees, in part because of insulation provided by their fur, and in part because of counter-current vascular heat exchange systems in their legs and nasal passages.}}
  • Chilly in manner; lacking affection or zeal; impassive.
  • (colloquial) Sexually unresponsive, especially of a woman.

    • Related terms

    * frigidity * frigidly * frigidness

    Antonyms

    * fervid

    References

    * *

    austere

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Grim or severe in manner or appearance
    • The headmistress was an austere old woman.
  • Lacking trivial decoration; not extravagant or gaudy
    • The interior of the church was as austere as the parishioners were dour.

    Synonyms

    * (grim or severe) stern, strict, forbidding * (lacking trivial decoration) simple, plain, unadorned, unembellished

    Antonyms

    * (not lacking trivial decoration) overwrought, flamboyant, extravagant, gaudy, flashy

    Derived terms

    * austerity * austerely