extreme

Universal Words adjective, noun adjective 1 [usuallybeforenoun] very great in degree: We are working under extreme pressure at the moment. * thousands of people living in extreme poverty * I'm having extreme difficulty in not losing my temper with her. * The heat in the desert was extreme. 2 not ordinary or usual; serious or severe: Children will be removed from their parents only in extreme circumstances. * Don't go doing anything extreme like leaving the country. * It was the most extreme example of cruelty to animals I had ever seen. * extreme weather conditions * extreme sports (= dangerous sports, for example SNOWBOARDING and BUNGEEJUMPING) 3 (of people, political organizations, opinions, etc.) far from what most people consider to be normal, reasonable or acceptable: extreme left-wing / right-wing views * an extreme nationalist organization * Their ideas are too extreme for me. 4 [onlybeforenoun] as far as possible from the centre, the beginning or in the direction mentioned: Kerry is in the extreme west of Ireland. * She sat on the extreme edge of her seat. * politicians on the extreme left of the party noun 1 a feeling, situation, way of behaving, etc. that is as different as possible from another or is opposite to it: extremes of love and hate * He used to be very shy, but now he's gone to the opposite extreme (= changed from one extreme kind of behaviour to another). 2 the greatest or highest degree of sth: extremes of cold, wind or rain * the climatic extremes of the mountains IDIOMS go, etc. to extremes