austère

[os.tɛʁ]

/[os.tɛʁ]/ adj

The verdict

“austère” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - streng

Corpus desk

Index DE-austere · austère · German

austère · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "A" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for austère
PropertyValue
Headwordaustère
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[os.tɛʁ]
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „austère“ im Deutschen

austèreschafft es nicht in die Top 100.000 des Deutschen: Zone für Fach-, Alt- oder Seltenwortschatz.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

austère is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed [os.tɛʁ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "streng".

No generated misspelling entries exist for austère in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is austère, spelled A-U-S-T-È-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    streng

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "austère"?
"austère" is spelled A-U-S-T-È-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is [os.tɛʁ].
What does "austère" mean?
As an adjective, "austère" means: streng
How do you pronounce "austère"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "austère" is [os.tɛʁ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "austère" come from?
"austère" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list