extreme

Borrowed from Old French extreme, from Latin extrēmus, the superlative of exter.

• IPA^(key): /ɪkˈstɹiːm/

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extreme (comparative extremer or more extreme, superlative extremest or most extreme)

1. Of a place, the most remote, farthest or outermost.

   At the extreme edges, the coating is very thin.

2. In the greatest or highest degree; intense.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 13, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them.

   He has an extreme aversion to needles, and avoids visiting the doctor.

3. Excessive, or far beyond the norm.
   • 2013 March 1, Frank Fish, George Lauder, “Not Just Going with the Flow”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, page 114:

     An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex. The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.

   His extreme love of model trains showed in the rails that criscrossed his entire home.

4. Drastic, or of great severity.

   I think the new laws are extreme, but many believe them necessary for national security.

5. Of sports, difficult or dangerous; performed in a hazardous environment.

   Television has begun to reflect the growing popularity of extreme sports such as bungee jumping and skateboarding.

6. (archaic) Ultimate, final or last.

   the extreme hour of life

• (place): farthest, furthest, most distant, outermost, remotest
• (in greatest or highest degree): greatest, highest
• (excessive): excessive, too much
• (drastic): drastic, severe
• (sports): dangerous
• (ultimate): final, last, ultimate

• (place): closest, nearest
• (in greatest or highest degree): least
• (excessive): moderate, reasonable
• (drastic): moderate, reasonable

• extremeness

extreme (plural extremes)

1. The greatest or utmost point, degree or condition.
   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 2, in The Celebrity:

     Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. […] A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes. […] But withal there was a perceptible acumen about the man which was puzzling in the extreme.

2. Each of the things at opposite ends of a range or scale.

   extremes of temperature

3. A drastic expedient.
4. (mathematics) Either of the two numbers at the ends of a proportion, as 1 and 6 in 1:2=3:6.

extreme (comparative more extreme, superlative most extreme)

1. (archaic) Extremely.
   • 1796 Charles Burney, Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Metastasio 2.5:

     In the empty and extreme cold theatre.

• Formerly used to modify adjectives and sometimes adverbs, but rarely verbs.

• extremism
• extremist
• extremity
• extremely
• extreme ironing
• extreme unction

• extremum

• mean

• “extreme” in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989, →ISBN.

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extreme

1. Inflected form of extreem

extreme

1. inflected form of extrem

extreme

1. extremely

extreme

1. vocative singular of extremus

• extreme in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• extreme in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016

extreme m or f (plural extremes)

1. extreme

extreme

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of extremar.
2. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of extremar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of extremar.

extreme

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of extrem.