stark

¹

[ stahrk ]

adjective

, stark·er, stark·est.

1. sheer, utter, downright, or complete:

   This plan is stark madness!

2. harsh, grim, or desolate, as a view, place, etc.:

   Her photos capture the stark desert landscape.

3. extremely simple or severe:

   With its stark interior and rough ride, the car scores low in our luxury car ranking.

4. bluntly or sternly plain; not softened or glamorized:

   He panicked suddenly at the stark reality of the approaching deadline.

5. distinct, sharp, or vivid:

   The thriving community gardens stood in stark contrast to vacant land and abandoned buildings.

6. stiff or rigid in substance, muscles, etc.
7. rigid in death.
8. Archaic. strong; powerful; massive or robust.

adverb

1. utterly, absolutely, or quite:

   stark mad.

2. Chiefly Scot. and North England. in a stark manner; stoutly or vigorously.

Stark

²

[ stahrk; German shtahrk ]

noun

1. Harold Rayns·ford [reynz, -ferd], 1880–1972, U.S. admiral.
2. Jo·han·nes [yoh-, hah, -n, uh, s], 1874–1957, German physicist: Nobel Prize 1919.
3. John, 1728–1822, American Revolutionary War general.

stark

¹

/ stɑːk /

adjective

1. usually prenominal devoid of any elaboration; blunt

   the stark facts

2. grim; desolate

   a stark landscape

3. usually prenominal utter; absolute

   stark folly

4. archaic.
   severe; violent
5. archaic.
   rigid, as in death (esp in the phrases stiff and stark, stark dead )
6. See stark-naked
   short for stark-naked

adverb

1. completely

   stark mad

Stark

²

noun

1. stɑːk StarkFreya (Madeline), Dame18931993FBritishTRAVEL AND EXPLORATION: travellerWRITING: writer Dame Freya ( Madeline ) (ˈfreɪə). 1893–1993, British traveller and writer, whose many books include The Southern Gates of Arabia (1936), Beyond Euphrates (1951), and The Journey's Echo (1963)
2. ʃtark StarkJohannes18741957MGermanSCIENCE: physicist Johannes (joˈhanəs). 1874–1957, German physicist, who discovered the splitting of the lines of a spectrum when the source of light is subjected to a strong electrostatic field ( Stark effect , 1913): Nobel prize for physics 1919

Derived Forms

• ˈstarkness, noun
• ˈstarkly, adverb

Other Words From

• stark·ly adverb
• stark·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of stark¹

First recorded before 900; (adjective) Middle English; Old English stearc “stiff, firm”; cognate with German stark “strong”; akin to Old Norse sterkr “strong”; akin to starch, stare; (adverb) Middle English sterke, derivative of the adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stark¹

Old English stearc stiff; related to Old Norse sterkr , Gothic gastaurknan to stiffen

Synonym Study

See austere, bare ¹.

Example Sentences

As such, the stark reality for early-stage startups is they may yet be caught in the cross-hairs of tough macroeconomic headwinds that are forcing even far more established startups to layoff staff and cut down costs.

From Quartz

This hopeful message stood in stark contrast to his tough, no-nonsense, frontal attack on the president.

From No Straight News

My guess is that while we wait for a vaccine or treatment, the international contrasts will only grow more stark.

From MIT Technology Review

The city conducted a survey to get a better sense of who’s offering the advice and found a stark demographic disparity.

From Voice of San Diego

In stark contrast to the rest of the US, where the number of positive coronavirus cases are spiking, reports indicate that New York is effectively containing the coronavirus, at least for the time being.

From Quartz

His constant worship of his wife stands in stark contrast to scandals of the domestic nature in other sports.

From The Daily Beast

These images, videos and messages became a lifeline between two worlds and a stark record of the distance between them.

From The Daily Beast

The fun of the episode, however, stands in stark contrast to its conclusion.

From The Daily Beast

With some areas, the differences are stark in terms of where this windfall lands.

From The Daily Beast

A recent Pew Poll graphically likewise portrays the stark national divide, and the granular differences are gaping.

From The Daily Beast

Charred beams and blackened walls showed stark and gaunt in the glow of a smoldering mass of wreckage.

From Project Gutenberg

John Stark, a major general in the revolutionary army, died, aged 93.

From Project Gutenberg

You must pull yourself together or you'll go stark mad, and then you'll probably go and throw yourself over the Embankment.

From Project Gutenberg

Their own mothers would hardly know them—burnt black with the sun, in rags or else stark naked, with pipes in their mouths.

From Project Gutenberg

They stripped us stark naked, and the files were found in the bands of our trowsers through which the string that ties them runs.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• austere
• bleak
• depressing
• desolate
• grim
• harsh