extreme

ex|treme¹ W3S3 [ıkˈstri:m] adj

[Date: 1400-1500; : French; Origin: extrême, from Latin extremus 'most outward', from exter; EXTERNAL]

1.) [only before noun]

very great in degree

▪ Extreme poverty still exists in many rural areas.

extreme care/caution

▪ It is necessary to use extreme caution with chemicals.

▪ extreme cold

▪ He had extreme difficulty getting hold of the ingredients.

2.) very unusual and severe or serious

extreme example/case

▪ an extreme case of cruelty

▪ Force is only justified in extreme circumstances .

extreme weather/conditions etc

3.) extreme west/end/left etc

the part furthest to the west, nearest the end etc

▪ on the extreme edge of the cliff

4.) extreme opinions, beliefs, or organizations, especially political ones, are considered by most people to be unacceptable and unreasonable

▪ extreme right-wing nationalists

5.) [only before noun] extreme sports/surfing/skiing etc

an extreme sport is one that is done in a way that has much more risk and so is more dangerous than an ordinary form of the sport

6.) extreme athlete/surfer/skier etc

someone who does extreme sports

▪ Extreme surfers will ride waves that reach heights of more than fifty feet.

extreme ²

extreme² n

1.) a situation, quality etc which is as great as it can possibly be - used especially when talking about two opposites

extreme of

▪ The bacteria can withstand extremes of heat and cold.

▪ In fact, the truth lies between the two extremes .

at the other/opposite extreme

▪ At the other extreme is a country like Switzerland with almost no unemployment.

▪ Advertisements seem to go from one extreme to the other (=change from one extreme thing to something totally opposite) .

2.) in the extreme

to a very great degree

▪ This kind of experiment seems cruel in the extreme.

3.) to extremes

if someone does something to extremes, they do it to a point beyond what is normal or acceptable

take/carry sth to extremes

▪ Problems only occur when this attitude is taken to extremes.

▪ She had gone to extremes to avoid seeing him.