Meaning & use
severely
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Meanings
adverbnot comparable
To a very serious or intense degree, especially when describing damage, illness or limits.
Grammar: Goes before an adjective or past participle: severely damaged, severely limited.
Patterns
- severely injured
- severely limited
- severely affected
The house was severely damaged by the flood.
Her hearing was severely affected by the infection.
The town's budget has been severely cut this year.
adverbnot comparable
In a harsh, strict or stern way.
Grammar: Usually follows the verb: the judge punished him severely.
Patterns
- punish someone severely
- criticize someone severely
The coach criticized the team severely after the loss.
Cheating is punished severely at this school.
The reviewer judged the film severely.
Common combinations
- severely injured
- Two drivers were severely injured in the crash.
- severely punished
- Offenders can be severely punished under the new law.
- severely restricted
- Access to the area is severely restricted.
- severely disabled
- The charity helps severely disabled children.
- severely criticized
- The plan was severely criticized by local residents.
Synonyms and how they differ
- seriously
- Seriously is the everyday choice and also fits less dramatic cases, while severely sounds more intense and formal.
- badly
- Badly is informal and flexible, whereas severely suggests a measurable high level of harm.
- harshly
- Harshly fits only treatment such as criticism or punishment, while severely also covers damage and illness.
- gravely
- Gravely is more formal and literary and fits illness or danger, but is less common than severely.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: severely or severe?
severely vs severe
Severe is the adjective, as in a severe storm; severely is the adverb that modifies verbs and adjectives, as in severely damaged.
Practice
The crops were ___ damaged by the long drought.
Choose one answer.
An adverb is needed to modify the participle damaged, so severely is correct. Severe is an adjective and cannot modify damaged directly.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “severely”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.