extreme
/ɪkˈstriːm
/ /ɛkˈstriːm/adjective
1Reaching a high or the highest degree; very great: extreme cold...
- You are depending upon yourself to a degree that can cause extreme unease, but this is acute to all species of creativity.
- He configured power to such an extreme degree in our system that the role of his character is absolutely central.
- Or you're guilty of wishful thinking to an extreme degree.
Synonyms
utmost, uttermost, very great, greatest, greatest possible, maximum, maximal, highest, ultimate, supreme, paramount, great, acute, major, intense, enormous, severe, high, superlative, exceptional, extraordinary
1.1Not usual; exceptional: in extreme cases the soldier may be discharged...
- That category is extreme to exceptional drought conditions.
- Said to possess exceptional drive and extreme intelligence, Norton's ambitions were not satisfied and he set up a doctors' deputising service.
- Because commanders will probably not be willing to flatten whole blocks, they may expose their soldiers to the extreme perils of close-quarters combat.
1.2Very severe or serious: expulsion is an extreme sanction...
- It is argued that these punishments are extreme, severe and merciless.
- The criteria for eligibility were extreme hardship, serious injury, damage to their homes, or bereavement directly as a result of the landslide.
- If all he takes seriously is the extreme threat of force, then the threat needs to be seen and be seen as immediate.
Synonyms
drastic, serious, forceful, desperate, dire, radical, far-reaching, momentous, consequential, substantial;
unrelenting, unbending, unyielding, remorseless, uncompromising, unmitigated;
heavy, sharp, severe, austere, stern, harsh, tough, strict, rigorous, swingeing, punishing, punitive, excessive, oppressive, draconian, ferocious
1.3(Of a person or their opinions) far from moderate, especially politically: groups of his more extreme supporters rioted in front of parliament...
- Cadres of extreme fighters in terrorist and militant organizations have a proclivity for violence that evidence of its past futility cannot deter.
- Although we've already seen that having the endorsement of the most extreme members of the Democratic Party does not ensure victory in the primaries.
- This organisation is not simply an isolated enclave of extreme prejudice and backwardness.
Synonyms
radical, extremist, immoderate, exaggerated, intemperate, outrageous, unreasonable;
fanatical, diehard, overzealous, revolutionary, rebel, rebellious, subversive, militant, combative
informal over the top, OTT
British informal swivel-eyed
1.4Denoting or relating to a sport performed in a hazardous environment and involving great risk: extreme sports like snowboarding...
- If you want to perform extreme sports yourself, paragliding from a windy hilltop in Salta is an option.
- ‘Today, the sports calendar is overloaded with TV sports and extreme games,’ said Paulick.
- Veterans of white-water rafting, mountain climbing and other extreme sports, the six women who assemble in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains think they are ready for anything.
Synonyms
dangerous, hazardous, risky, high-risk;
reckless, foolhardy, daredevil, breakneck, daring, adventurous
2 [attributive] Furthest from the centre or a given point: the extreme north-west of Scotland...
- ST.PETERSBURG, situated in extreme Northwest Russia and formerly known as Petrograd or Leningrad, is one of the most beautiful cities of Europe.
- Wedged by Northern Ireland into the extreme northwest of the island, its back to the sea, Donegal is linked to the republic by a slender isthmus.
- These bases fell so swiftly that the US troops were able to attack Eniwetok atoll at the extreme north-west end of the island chain six weeks ahead of schedule.
Synonyms
furthest, farthest, furthermost, farthermost, furthest/farthest away, very, utmost, outermost, most distant, aftermost, endmost, ultimate, final, last, terminal, remotest
rare outmost
noun
1Either of two abstract things that are as different from each other as possible: we represented opposite extremes of college society—he a member of the Old Guard, I one of the radicals...
- The two extremes represent opposite ways in which Christianity relates to modernity or postmodernity.
- Highly constrained genomes such as those of birds represent the opposite extreme, in which the subgenomic populace suffers under a totalitarian regime.
- Hunt's background represents the opposite extreme of Hanson in the ‘two nation’ model.
Synonyms
opposite, antithesis, (other) side of the coin, (opposite) pole, contrary, (exclusive) alternative;
opposing pair
rare antipode
1.1The highest or most extreme degree of something: extremes of temperature...
- The product is produced at temperature extremes exceeding 300 degrees below zero.
- The simulation was run using these groupings representing extremes of possible variation caused through modeling population dynamics.
- Featuring the latest in DX9 shader technology, Auto Assault will represent the extreme of what is possible on today's graphics cards.
Synonyms
limit, extremity, highest/greatest degree, maximum, height, high, low;
ceiling, top, zenith, pinnacle, peak, apex, climax, ultimate, optimum, acme, epitome
1.2A very severe or serious measure: the extreme of applying for poor relief...
- One can only deplore of course the barbarous extremes that some of this antipathy has taken.
- The other extreme of course, which is presupposed in the above - is a retreat to solipsism, and thereby a denial of the other.
- I took this person's behavior (something he hides from his friends and maybe from himself) and pushed it to the furthest extreme I could.
2 Logic The subject or predicate in a proposition, or the major or minor term in a syllogism (as contrasted with the middle term).This idea has lately been taken to its logical extreme: Why not cut out the middleman and just let target customers make their own ads?...
- There is a potential misuse of the power function under the logical extreme when the null hypothesis is true.
Phrases
extremes meet
go (or take something) to extremes
in the extreme
Derivatives
extremeness
/ /ɛkˈstriːmnəs / noun ...- Though the study just described did not involve political or moral issues, the results show that one-sidedness, and consequently extremeness, can be heightened when people are communicating over the Internet.
- The uniqueness of this religious community lies especially in its radical and stringent religious demands, mainly manifested in the extremeness of Torah studies within the hierarchy of values and practices.
- Despite the extremeness of its interpretation and the uniqueness of its style, Klossowski's book is readily meaningful to academics because it proceeds in the established way.
Origin
Late Middle English: via Old French from Latin extremus 'outermost, utmost', superlative of exterus 'outer'.
This comes via Old French from Latin extremus, literally ‘outermost’, the superlative of exterus ‘outer’ source of exterior (early 16th century).