| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| extreme |
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| SYLLABICATION: | ex·treme |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   k-str m |
| ADJECTIVE: | 1. Most remote in any direction; outermost or farthest: the extreme edge of the field. 2. Being in or attaining the greatest or highest degree; very intense: extreme pleasure; extreme pain. 3. Extending far beyond the norm: an extreme conservative. See synonyms at excessive. 4. Of the greatest severity; drastic: took extreme measures to conserve fuel. 5. Sports a. Very dangerous or difficult: extreme rafting. b. Participating or tending to participate in a very dangerous or difficult sport: an extreme skier. 6. Archaic Final; last. | | NOUN: | 1. The greatest or utmost degree or point. 2. Either of the two things situated at opposite ends of a range: the extremes of boiling and freezing. 3. An extreme condition. 4. An immoderate, drastic expedient: resorted to extremes in the emergency. 5. Mathematics a. The first or last term of a ratio or a series. b. A maximum or minimum value of a function. 6. Logic The major or minor term of a syllogism. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old French, from Latin extrmus. See eghs in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | ex·tremely —ADVERB
ex·tremeness —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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