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extreme Definition

ex·treme (ek strēm′, ik-)

adjective

  1. at the end or outermost point; farthest away; most remote; utmost
    1. in or to the greatest degree; very great or greatest extreme pain
    2. to an excessive degree; immoderate
  3. far from what is usual or conventional
  4. deviating to the greatest degree from the center of opinion, as in politics
  5. very severe; drastic extreme measures
  6. designating or of sports that involve high speeds, unusually risky actions, and considerable exposure to physical injury
  7. Archaic last; final

Etymology: ME & OFr < L extremus, last, outermost, superl. of exterus, outer: see external

noun

  1. either of two things that are as different or far as possible from each other
  2. an extreme degree
  3. an extreme act, expedient, etc.
  4. an extreme state or condition an extreme of distress
  5. Obsolete an extreme point; extremity
  6. Math.
    1. the first or last term of a proportion
    2. extremum

extreme Related Forms

ex·treme′ly adverb ex·treme′·ness noun

extreme Idioms

go to extremes

to be excessive or immoderate in speech or action

in the extreme

to the utmost degree

extreme Synonyms

extreme

modif.

  1. The most remote

    utmost, final, ultimate, farthest; see last 1.

  2. Going beyond moderation and reason

    radical, intemperate, immoderate, imprudent, excessive, inordinate, immeasurable, profuse, extravagant, exorbitant, overkill, flagrant, outrageous, unreasonable, irrational, improper, unconventional, fabulous, preposterous, abysmal, greatest, thorough, far, gross, out of proportion, absolute, ultra, extremist, fanatical, rabid, overzealous, desperate, severe, intense, strict, drastic, sheer, total, advanced, violent, sharp, acute, beyond control, fantastic, to the extreme, nonsensical, unqualified, absurd, monstrous, unmitigated, hyperbolic, exaggerated, big*, almighty*, super*, stiff*, steep*, gonzo*, out of bounds*, at its height*, beyond the pale*, way-out*, far-out*, to the max*.

    Antonyms cautious, restrained*, moderate.

extreme Synonyms

extreme

n.

height, apogee, utmost, maximum; see climax, limit 2.

go to extremes

be excessive, be immoderate, go to great lengths, go overboard*; see overdo 1.

in the extreme

extremely, to the highest degree, inordinately, to the utmost; see much 2, very.

extreme Usage Examples

Converse of object

avoid: The right path is obviously to avoid the extremes.

Adjective modifier

  • opposite: On the negative side however, I veer to the opposite extreme.
  • furthest: The Gilera Nexus takes this philosophy to its furthest extreme.
  • logical: Pursued to a logical extreme, this is disturbing, even terrifying.
  • ridiculous: Excessively low rates can push up asset prices to ridiculous extremes and create bubbles.
  • absurd: At one absurd extreme are audio enthusiasts ( x db down at 20kHz that they can't hear!

Modifies a noun

  • caution: A weather warning is released advising drivers of high sided vehicles to drive with extreme caution.
  • poverty: With only the money that Engels could raise, the Marx family lived in extreme poverty.
  • circumstance: Making children's lives joyful even in extreme circumstances.
  • tiredness: The two major symptoms are joint and muscle pain and an extreme tiredness that won't go away no matter how much you rest.
  • weather: Due to the extreme weather, we start the cruise with boats scattered from Poole to Brighton.

Used with adjective complement

seem: It was sometimes tempting to discard a proposal which seemed too extreme.

Noun used with modifier

  • temperature: Effects of temperature extremes ( hot and cold ).
  • weather: Each year there were crises - increasing weather extremes, crop failures, outbreaks of violence, things going wrong, problems escalating.

Preposition: of

  • temperature: Single daily readings of a conventional thermometer give little assurance of the extremes of temperature achieved between the readings.
  • weather: Rose Price created a series of south facing compartments - sheltered from the extremes of the weather by the large flowering trees.
  • emotion: What is it in what Jesus ended up saying to us that evoked such extremes of emotions, violence and suppression?
  • pH: This can include extremes of pH, the presence of toxic materials, excess rubble and stone or contamination from organic materials.
  • spectrum: One extreme of the spectrum is general Information Retrieval ( IR ), as represented by web search search engines.