See Also: Extreme(medicine)
extreme(dictionary)
extreme capsule(medicine)
extreme halophile(medicine)
extreme sports(encyclopedia)
extreme 1, adjective(dictionary)
extreme 2, noun(dictionary)
extreme fighting(dictionary)

extreme (iou)



extreme adjective, noun, & adverb. LME.
[Old & mod. French extreme from Latin extremus, from exter outer.]
A. adjective.
a. (Of a quality, condition, or feeling) existing in a very high degree, very great or intense; (of an action, measure, etc.) very severe or violent; (of a case or circumstance) having some characteristic in the utmost degree. LME.
J. Buchan Mr Craw's face showed extreme irritation. H. G. Wells This is only a very extreme instance of the general state of affairs. V. Woolf Here at college, where the stir and presence of life are so extreme.
b. Of a material agent: effective to a very high degree; very powerful. L15-M18.
c. Of a person: going to great lengths; advocating severe or drastic measures; immoderate in opinion. Formerly also, strict, severe. M16.
d. Of an opinion, fashion, etc.: immoderate, excessive. L19.
e. Of a sport: performed in a hazardous environment and involving great physical risk. L20.
Outermost, furthest from the centre; endmost, situated at an end. LME.
extreme and mean ratio Math.: represented by a line divided according to the golden section, so that the ratio of its length to that of the longer part is the same as the ratio of the length of the longer part to that of the shorter (viz. 1.61803...). extreme parts the extremities of the body.
R. Warner Flats..built at the extreme edge of the aerodrome.
b. Furthest; very far advanced in any direction; utmost, uttermost. L16.
B. Bainbridge The extreme end of the corrider.
Last, latest. Cf. extreme unction below. Now rare or obsolete. L15.
extreme unction Roman Catholic Church (former name for) the sacrament of anointing the sick, esp. those thought to be near death.
b. noun.
The utmost or terminating point or verge; an end, an extremity (in time or space). M16-E19.
A very high degree; the utmost degree. M16.
b. In pl. Straits, extremities, adversity. M16-M17.
a. Something which is situated at one end of anything; either of two things as far as possible from each other in position, nature, or condition. M16.
G. Greene It's strange how the human mind swings back and forth, from one extreme to another. Proverb: Extremes meet.
b. Math. The first or last term of a series or proportion. Now rare or obsolete. L16.
c. Logic. The subject or predicate in a proposition; the major or minor term in a syllogism. E17.
An excessive degree, a very great length; an extreme measure. L16.
Mrs H. Wood I never thought the masters would go to the extreme of a lock-out. J. Rosenberg An enthusiastic temperament such as his easily led to extremes.
Phrases: go to the other extreme take a diametrically opposite course of action. in extreme = in the extreme below. in one's extremes = in the extremes below. in the extreme to an extreme degree, extremely. in the extremes in the last moments of life.
C. adverb. To an extreme degree, extremely. L16-E19.
extremely adverb (a) to the uttermost degree; with a very great degree of some quality, esp. severity; (b) to or in an extreme degree; very much: L15.
extremeness noun M16.