Advertisement
Advertisement
stern
1[ sturn ]
adjective
- firm, strict, or uncompromising:
stern discipline.
Synonyms: unsympathetic, unfeeling, cruel, unrelenting, adamant
Antonyms: lenient
- hard, harsh, or severe:
a stern reprimand.
Synonyms: unsympathetic, unfeeling, cruel, unrelenting, adamant
- rigorous or austere; of an unpleasantly serious character:
stern times.
- grim or forbidding in aspect:
a stern face.
stern
2[ sturn ]
noun
- the after or rear part of a vessel (often opposed to bow or stem ):
The ship's stern was a glory of brightly painted carved figures of knights and mythical beasts.
- the back or rear of anything.
- Stern, Astronomy. the constellation Puppis.
- Fox Hunting. the tail of a hound.
verb (used with or without object)
- to be the person paddling, steering, working, etc., at the rear of (a vessel):
When you're bird-watching, it's much better to be paddling up front than sterning the canoe.
- to propel or steer (a vessel) with the after or rear part leading:
We pulled up to the dock 15 minutes later and managed to stern in before dark.
Stern
3[ sturn ]
noun
- Isaac, 1920–2001, U.S. violinist, born in Russia.
- Otto, 1888–1969, U.S. physicist, born in Germany: Nobel Prize 1943.
stern-
4- variant of sterno- before a vowel:
sternite.
stern
1/ stɜːn /
noun
- the rear or after part of a vessel, opposite the bow or stem
- the rear part of any object
- the tail of certain breeds of dog, such as the foxhound or beagle
adjective
- relating to or located at the stern
Stern
2/ stɜːn /
noun
- SternIsaac19202001MUSRussianMUSIC: concert violinist Isaac. 1920–2001, US concert violinist, born in (what is now) Ukraine
stern
3/ stɜːn /
adjective
- showing uncompromising or inflexible resolve; firm, strict, or authoritarian
- lacking leniency or clemency; harsh or severe
- relentless; unyielding
the stern demands of parenthood
- having an austere or forbidding appearance or nature
Derived Forms
- ˈsternness, noun
- ˈsternly, adverb
Other Words From
- stern·ly adverb
- stern·ness noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of stern1
Word History and Origins
Origin of stern1
Origin of stern2
Idioms and Phrases
see from soup to nuts (stem to stern) .Synonym Study
Example Sentences
Only hours after tug boats had initially wrenched the stern free, some news outlets reported that strong winds had blown it back to its stuck position across the 205-meter southern section of the canal.
That disruption appears to have caused the ship to become wedged sideways across the canal, with its bow pressed against the eastern wall and its stern wedged into the canal’s western wall.
Stern said he and fellow legislators wanted public access to all agency documents restored.
They may not even need a host star at all, Stern writes, and could exist on wandering planets ejected from their systems.
In his report, Stern suggests interior ocean worlds have several advantages over exterior ocean worlds, and therefore, if they’re common, it’s far less likely we are alone in the universe—but also, it might be a lot harder to prove the case.
He opens up to Marlow Stern about music, Hollywood, and more.
Buress went on The Howard Stern Show to talk about the Cosby story.
But at the end of the day, as a governor, you have to be stern and there are decisions you have to make.
I like to end columns with a potential policy fix, some kind of suggested action, or at least a stern finger-wagging.
After a stern media backlash, Dunham decided to pay her opening acts and, predictably, all was forgiven.
He had meted out stern justice to his own son, when he had banished big Reginald to South America; but he had his virtues.
Her stern was towards him, and all he saw of her was the ironical legend, “Cure your Corns.”
As it came near, it proved to be the clock, with a sail hoisted, and the Goblin sitting complacently in the stern.
As he read, a look of surprise came over his face, and then his countenance grew stern and grim.
As Louis spoke with the stern calmness of a divorced heart, Wharton became other than he had ever seen him.
Advertisement
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse