From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
extreme
adj 1: of the greatest possible degree or extent or intensity;
"extreme cold"; "extreme caution"; "extreme pleasure";
"utmost contempt"; "to the utmost degree"; "in the
uttermost distress" [syn: {utmost(a)}, {uttermost(a)}]
2: far beyond a norm in quantity or amount or degree; to an
utmost degree; "an extreme example"; "extreme
temperatures"; "extreme danger"
3: beyond a norm in views or actions; "an extreme
conservative"; "an extreme liberal"; "extreme views on
integration"; "extreme opinions"
4: most distant in any direction; "the extreme edge of town"
n 1: the furthest or highest degree of something; "he carried it
to extremes"
2: the point located farthest from the middle of something
[syn: extreme point, extremum]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Extreme \Ex*treme"\, a. [L. extremus, superl. of exter, extrus,
on the outside, outward: cf. F. extr[^e]me. See Exterior.]
1. At the utmost point, edge, or border; outermost; utmost;
farthest; most remote; at the widest limit.
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2. Last; final; conclusive; -- said of time; as, the extreme
hour of life.
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3. The best of worst; most urgent; greatest; highest;
immoderate; excessive; most violent; as, an extreme case;
extreme folly. "The extremest remedy." --Dryden. "Extreme
rapidity." --Sir W. Scott.
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Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire. --Shak.
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4. Radical; ultra; as, extreme opinions.
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The Puritans or extreme Protestants. --Gladstone.
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5. (Mus.) Extended or contracted as much as possible; -- said
of intervals; as, an extreme sharp second; an extreme flat
forth.
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Extreme and mean ratio (Geom.), the relation of a line and
its segments when the line is so divided that the whole is
to the greater segment is to the less.
Extreme distance. (Paint.) See Distance., n., 6.
Extreme unction. See under Unction.
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Note: Although this adjective, being superlative in
signification, is not properly subject to comparison,
the superlative form not unfrequently occurs,
especially in the older writers. "Tried in his
extremest state." --Spenser. "Extremest hardships."
--Sharp. "Extremest of evils." --Bacon. "Extremest
verge of the swift brook." --Shak. "The sea's extremest
borders." --Addison.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Extreme \Ex*treme"\, n.
1. The utmost point or verge; that part which terminates a
body; extremity.
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2. Utmost limit or degree that is supposable or tolerable;
hence, furthest degree; any undue departure from the mean;
-- often in the plural: things at an extreme distance from
each other, the most widely different states, etc.; as,
extremes of heat and cold, of virtue and vice; extremes
meet.
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His parsimony went to the extreme of meanness.
--Bancroft.
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3. An extreme state or condition; hence, calamity, danger,
distress, etc. "Resolute in most extremes." --Shak.
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4. (Logic) Either of the extreme terms of a syllogism, the
middle term being interposed between them.
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5. (Math.) The first or the last term of a proportion or
series.
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In the extreme as much as possible. "The position of the
Port was difficult in the extreme." --J. P. Peters.
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