Both Uses of
austere
in
In Cold Blood
- The room she so seldom left was austere; had the bed been made, a visitor might have thought it permanently unoccupied.
Chpt 1 *austere = lacking luxury, comfort, or decoration
- The pioneers who founded Garden City were necessarily a Spartan people, but when the time came to establish a formal cemetery, they were determined, despite arid soil and the troubles of transporting water, to create a rich contrast to the dusty streets, the austere plains.†
Chpt 4austere = a notable absence of luxury, comfort, or decoration; or stern in manner
Definition:
a notable absence of luxury, comfort, or decoration
or:
of a person: stern in manner; or practicing great self-denial
or:
of a person: stern in manner; or practicing great self-denial