extreme

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See also: Extreme, extremé, and extrême

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed into late Middle English from Old French extreme, from Latin extrēmus, the superlative of exter.

Pronunciation

Adjective

extreme (comparative extremer or more extreme, superlative extremest or most extreme)

  1. Of a place, the most remote, farthest or outermost.
    At the extreme edges, the coating is very thin.
  2. In the greatest or highest degree; intense.
    He has an extreme aversion to needles, and avoids visiting the doctor.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them.
  3. Excessive, or far beyond the norm.
    His extreme love of model trains showed in the rails that criscrossed his entire home.
    • 2013 March, Frank Fish, George Lauder, “Not Just Going with the Flow”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, page 114:
      An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex. The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.
  4. Drastic, or of great severity.
    I think the new laws are extreme, but many believe them necessary for national security.
  5. Of sports, difficult or dangerous; performed in a hazardous environment.
    Television has begun to reflect the growing popularity of extreme sports such as bungee jumping and skateboarding.
  6. (archaic) Ultimate, final or last.
    the extreme hour of life

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

extreme (plural extremes)

  1. The greatest or utmost point, degree or condition.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
      Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. […] A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes. […] But withal there was a perceptible acumen about the man which was puzzling in the extreme.
  2. Each of the things at opposite ends of a range or scale.
    extremes of temperature
    • 2017, Anthony J. McMichael, Alistair Woodward, Cameron Muir, Climate Change and the Health of Nations, →ISBN, page 56:
      Most public discussion about heat extremes refers to risks faced by the general community. Yet even greater extremes of heat exposure do and will occur in many occupational settings, posing special risks to health, behavior, and work capacity.
  3. (obsolete, plural only) One of the last moments of life.
  4. A drastic expedient.
    Some people go to extremes for attention on social media.
  5. (obsolete, plural only) Hardships, straits.
    • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: Richard Iones, , published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:
      a farther paſſion feeds my thoughts,
      With ceaſeleſſe and diſconſolate conceits,
      Which dies my lookes so liueleſſe as they are,
      And might, if my extreames had ful euents,
      Make me the gaſtly counterfeit of death.
  6. (mathematics) Either of the two numbers at the ends of a proportion, as 1 and 6 in 1:2=3:6.

Translations

Adverb

extreme (comparative more extreme, superlative most extreme)

  1. (archaic) Extremely.
    • 1796, Charles Burney, Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Metastasio, section 2.5:
      In the empty and extreme cold theatre.

Usage notes

  • Formerly used to modify adjectives and sometimes adverbs, but rarely verbs.

Derived terms

See also

References

Dutch

Pronunciation

Adjective

extreme

  1. inflection of extreem:
    1. masculine/feminine singular attributive
    2. definite neuter singular attributive
    3. plural attributive

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

extreme

  1. inflection of extrem:
    1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
    2. strong nominative/accusative plural
    3. weak nominative all-gender singular
    4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Ido

Adverb

extreme

  1. extremely

Latin

Noun

extrēme

  1. vocative singular of extrēmus

References

  • extreme in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • extreme in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Middle French

Adjective

extreme m or f (plural extremes)

  1. extreme

Spanish

Verb

extreme

  1. inflection of extremar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Swedish

Adjective

extreme

  1. definite natural masculine singular of extrem
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