From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishin the extremein the extremeVERYto a very great degree This kind of experiment seems cruel in the extreme. → extreme
Examples from the Corpus
in the extreme• It was aggravating in the extreme to discover him there, just when she had hoped to find the launch deserted.• Historians note that some Indian tribes were brutal in the extreme.• Both were cautious in the extreme.• Jasmine, who has all these characteristics in the extreme, was born June 18.• Aspects of his work, his life style, are disagreeable to him in the extreme.• All these parts interrelate, and it is implausible in the extreme to suppose that their interrelation is fortuitous.• But it would be naive in the extreme to believe that the system is always unjust.• Or, in the extreme, the cigarette industry may cease to exist.• On the other hand, the prospect of her making a film during the re-election campaign was unappealing in the extreme. 