extreme (extremes plural )
1 adj Extreme means very great in degree or intensity.
usu ADJ n
(=great)
The girls were afraid of snakes and picked their way along with extreme caution., ...people living in extreme poverty., ...the author's extreme reluctance to generalise.
2 adj You use extreme to describe situations and behaviour which are much more severe or unusual than you would expect, especially when you disapprove of them because of this., (disapproval)
The extreme case was Poland, where 29 parties won seats..., It is hard to imagine Lineker capable of anything so extreme...
3 adj You use extreme to describe opinions, beliefs, or political movements which you disapprove of because they are very different from those that most people would accept as reasonable or normal.
usu ADJ n (disapproval, Antonym: moderate)
This extreme view hasn't captured popular opinion., ...the racist politics of the extreme right.
4 n-count You can use extremes to refer to situations or types of behaviour that have opposite qualities to each other, especially when each situation or type of behaviour has such a quality to the greatest degree possible.
usu pl, oft N of n
...a `middle way' between the extremes of success and failure..., They can withstand extremes of temperature and weather without fading or cracking.
5 adj The extreme end or edge of something is its furthest end or edge.
ADJ n
(=far)
...the room at the extreme end of the corridor., ...winds from the extreme north.
6 If a person goes to extremes or takes something to extremes, they do or say something in a way that people consider to be unacceptable, unreasonable, or foolish.
go/take/carry (sthg) to extremes phrase V and N inflect
The police went to the extremes of installing the most advanced safety devices in the man's house..., The doctor told me not to mention dieting to her in case she took it to the extreme...
7 You use in the extreme after an adjective in order to emphasize what you are saying, especially when you want to indicate that it is something which is undesirable or very surprising.
FORMAL
in the extreme phrase adj PHR (emphasis)
It is proving controversial in the extreme...
