From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishextremeex‧treme1 /ɪkˈstriːm/ ●●○ S3 W3 adjective 1 [only before noun]EXTREME 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 UNUSUALvery unusual and severe or seriousextreme example/case an extreme case of cruelty Force is only justified in extreme circumstances.extreme weather/conditions etc3 → extreme west/end/left etc4 EXTREMEextreme opinions, beliefs, or organizations, especially political ones, are considered by most people to be unacceptable and unreasonable extreme right-wing nationalists5 → extreme sports/surfing/skiing etc6 → extreme athlete/surfer/skier etc
Examples from the Corpus
extreme• The organization says they consider Kahane's views to be extreme.• But memory is highly selective, particularly within an organization that has weathered numerous crises and moments of extreme duress.• It had always been one of his Walter Mittyisms to run a restaurant, and this we discussed with extreme earnestness.• That imbalance in brain chemicals also could lead to exaggerated responses to stress, resulting in extreme fatigue.• Buchanan's political views are too extreme for most Americans.• This is anomic aphasia. 9.2.6 Global aphasia Global aphasia could be thought of as the most extreme form of aphasia.• The refugees face a winter of extreme hardship.• Therefore, emotion, which can interfere with attention when it is extreme, is nevertheless the cornerstone of attention.• extreme left-wing groups• He hoped that such extreme measures would not be necessary.• extreme nationalists• Hold in this extreme position for 25 counts, stretching a little further with each count.• We like to present an extreme position to get people to react to it.• extreme temperaturesextreme care/caution• However, a partner needs gentle handling to tread gently and with extreme caution.• In reality, the tsar proceeded with extreme caution.• It is therefore advisable that all practice be carried out with extreme caution.• The government had to handle these sentiments with extreme caution.• Virginia liked to watch them when they were in a mood that required that they be handled with extreme care.• She even exercises extreme caution about what she throws into her waste-paper bin.• If he writes slowly and with extreme care, he forsakes natural rhythm and ease of style.• Exercise extreme caution in babies with renal or hepatic failure.extreme example/case• Fortunately, there is little chance of that except in extreme cases.• This can be illustrated easily by taking figures which show extreme cases at the beginning and end of our period.• In extreme cases, it can affect our whole career progress.• An extreme case of organizational self-defeat and its consequences?• Fresh food is the most extreme example of the change that has come over the shops.• That's an extreme example of the volatility, but it shows how brutal the market has been, analysts said.• In the extreme case, the supply will depend exclusively on demand.• In some extreme cases, theorising obliterates any need for empirical method.extremeextreme2 ●●○ noun [countable] 1 TOO/TOO MUCHCHANGE FROM ONE THING TO ANOTHERa situation, quality etc which is as great as it can possibly be – used especially when talking about two oppositesextreme 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 extreme3 → to extremesExamples from the Corpus
extreme• Either way, climate extremes are expected to increase.• Plant vaccines take this sort of trickery to an ingenious extreme.• For children, the world is one of extremes.• The junior adventure story has not suffered the same extremes of literary discrimination.• All these parts interrelate, and it is implausible in the extreme to suppose that their interrelation is fortuitous.• In the extreme, parents can even become physically abusive.between ... two extremes• Between the two extremes come the various financial assets such as bonds and shares.• Between the two extremes of standardised and non-standardised interviews is the large category of semi-structured interviews.• There are, of course, many weather conditions between the two extremes when you have a chance of catching bream.• The truth probably lies between the two extremes.• There would have been other players between the two extremes of those who required a check and those who did not.• You must find the right balance of specificity and practicality between the two extremes.• Surely with her help they could create something between the two extremes?Origin extreme1 (1400-1500) French extrême, from Latin extremus “most outward”, from exter; → EXTERNAL 