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Definition of austere : 1. Severe in modes of judging, or living, or acting; rigid; rigorous; stern; as, an austere man, look, life.
2. Sour and astringent; rough to the state; having acerbity; as, an austere crab apple; austere wine.
3. Unadorned; unembellished; severely simple.

Synonyms:

inexorable, grave, desolate, utter, everlasting, perfect, crude, morose, thoroughgoing, unforgiving, terrible, wicked, knockout, attitude, life-threatening, serious, consummate, complete, grievous, unrelenting, unyielding, gross, unappeasable, study atsevere, sodding, hot, ascetical, nonindulgent, for bidding, double-dyed, staring, modest, unmitigated, stiff, barren, dangerous, hard, arrant

childlike, refined, artless, unsophisticated, direct, candid, bald, uncomplicated, crystalline, terse

blameless, irreducible, chaste, angelic, primal, pure, aboriginal, immaculate, formative, primary, undiluted, purebred, basic, honorable, elementary, unadulterated, spotless, uncluttered, innocent, unsullied, undefiled, unblemished, essential, sinless, guiltless, simon-pure, stainless, monolithic, prime, nascent, faultless, bare, decent, stark, unadorned, white, unalloyed, virtuous, clean, basal, elemental, clear, atomic, untarnished, untainted, plain, indivisible, foundational, fundamental, simple

meager, closefisted, thrifty, narrow-fisted, stingy, penny-pinching, hard-fisted, petty, mean, cheeseparing, tight

abstinent, sober-minded, frugal, self-denying, moderate, prudent, temperate, self-depriving, restrained, sober, abnegating, ascetic, conservative

economical, cheap, sparing

brusque, acute, obdurate, short, crisp, gruff, inflexible, rigorous, relentless, dour, stern, stringent, stiff-necked, blunt, acrimonious, authoritarian, intense, oppressive, critical, cutting, prudish, cool, disciplined, demanding, strait-laced, intolerant, harsh, keen, icy, rigid, hidebound, astringent, unbending, precise, severe, lean, curt, meticulous, censorious, spare, chilly, raw, exacting, brisk, grim, imperial, abrupt, obstinate, correct, strict, dry, tart, Draconian, bleak, piquant, uncompromising, frosty, Spartan, caustic, sharp, acerbic, puritanical

celibate, teetotaling, lenten, penitential, miserly, monastic, Trappist, repentant, parsimonious, stoic, abstemious, Franciscan, hermit-like

Usage examples:

• Henceforth his deity was to be Reason, a cold and austere goddess but a constant one. - "The Tempering", Charles Neville Buck.
• If virtuous and austere in his manners, he was thought to censure the court, and he was suspected. - "History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814", F. A. M. Miguet.
• The severe rigidity of that lovely face was a heritage from her father, whose stern, austere nature had left its impress upon her soul as well. - "The Northern Light", E. Werner.