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• stark
  stark

  adjective

  sheer, utter, downright, or complete.
• Stark
  Stark

  noun

  Harold Raynsford 1880–1972, U.S. admiral.

stark

¹ American  

[stahrk] / stɑrk /

adjective

starker, starkest

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.

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adverb

1. utterly, absolutely, or quite.

   stark mad.

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

Stark ² American  

[stahrk, shtahrk] / stɑrk, ʃtɑrk /

noun

1. Harold Raynsford 1880–1972, U.S. admiral.

2. Johannes 1874–1957, German physicist: Nobel Prize 1919.

3. John, 1728–1822, American Revolutionary War general.

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stark ¹ British  

/ 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. short for stark-naked

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adverb

1. completely

   stark mad

Stark ² British  

noun

1. 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. 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

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Synonym Usage

See austere, bare ¹.

Other Word Forms

• starkly
  adverb
• starkness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of stark

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

Explanation

Stark means "complete or extreme," like the stark contrast between your music taste — punk and weird metal — and your mom's, with all her 1950's doo-wop favorites. In describing a place, stark means "providing no shelter or sustenance." A barren desert or a room with no furniture or curtains is stark. It can also mean "severe, stern, or austere," like the stark beauty of the rocky cliffs in the west of Ireland. Stark can also be used to mean "totally." If you are called stark, raving mad, there's no question about it: you are acting completely crazy.

Example Sentences

The misalignment between what’s for sale and what buyers can afford is especially stark in places like Los Angeles and New York.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026

The response from chief executive Priya Dogra was a stark contrast to the tone Channel 4 had adopted in correspondence with the BBC previously.

From BBC • May 22, 2026

But the women’s crisis gave a stark example of why Hollywood 4WRD wants to gather its own information to supplement the official homeless count.

From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026

That’s a stark contrast with Shein, which has been accused of overworking and underpaying its workers and of being a massive industry polluter.

From MarketWatch • May 19, 2026

He had come prepared to admire the grand achievement of Burnham’s army of workers but instead found himself troubled by what he saw in the stark frozen landscape.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

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