Crossword Genius

Stern composed features female's lacking (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

austere

'stern' is the definition.
(I know that stern can be written as austere)

'composed features female's lacking' is the wordplay.
'composed' is an anagram indicator.
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'lacking' is a deletion indicator.
'features' with 'f' taken away is 'eatures'.
'eatures' is an anagram of 'AUSTERE'.

(Other definitions for austere that I've seen before include "Stern, grave" , "Serious" , "Stark" , "Hard" , "Severe in manner" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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