stark
adjective
sheer, utter, downright, or complete.
stark
1 American
[stahrk]
/ stɑrk /
adjective
starker,
comparative
starkest
superlative
-
sheer, utter, downright, or complete.
This plan is stark madness!
-
harsh, grim, or desolate, as a view, place, etc..
Her photos capture the stark desert landscape.
-
extremely simple or severe.
With its stark interior and rough ride, the car scores low in our luxury car ranking.
-
bluntly or sternly plain; not softened or glamorized.
He panicked suddenly at the stark reality of the approaching deadline.
-
distinct, sharp, or vivid.
The thriving community gardens stood in stark contrast to vacant land and abandoned buildings.
-
stiff or rigid in substance, muscles, etc.
-
rigid in death.
-
Archaic. strong; powerful; massive or robust.
adverb
-
utterly, absolutely, or quite.
stark mad.
-
Chiefly Scot. and North England. in a stark manner; stoutly or vigorously.
Stark
2
American
[stahrk, shtahr k]
/ stɑrk, ʃtɑrk /
noun
-
Harold Raynsford 1880–1972, U.S. admiral.
-
Johannes 1874–1957, German physicist: Nobel Prize 1919.
-
John, 1728–1822, American Revolutionary War general.
stark
1
British
/ stɑːk /
adjective
-
(usually prenominal) devoid of any elaboration; blunt
the stark facts
-
grim; desolate
a stark landscape
-
(usually prenominal) utter; absolute
stark folly
-
archaic severe; violent
-
archaic rigid, as in death (esp in the phrases stiff and stark, stark dead )
-
short for stark-naked
adverb
Stark
2
British
noun
-
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)
-
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
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
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.
Vocabulary lists containing stark
Words from "The Avengers"
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 7–11
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The Catcher in the Rye
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Public backlash to AI is intensifying, with stark fears about job loss and anger over the build-out of data centers across the country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
His real-life geniality provides a stark contrast to some of his most famous roles as monstrous men committing equally hideous deeds.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
The difference was "particularly stark" in early education, the report said.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The reaction was emotional, he recalls, but even among Democrats, he saw stark limits.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Miss Sadie held up her hand, shielding herself from the stark light of day.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
Florian Seibel, co-CEO and co-founder, told reporters that the fundraising could open the way for Quantum to acquire Stark Defence -- a maker of attack drones, which he also helped to found.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Stark, set up in 2024, announced a funding round of its own last week, raising 500 million euros.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Stark said at the Chevron Championship in April.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
“He tumbled off the ladder and landed in a gilded heap on the earth,” Peter Stark writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
Stark white bedding, plush headboard, framed picture of the beach.
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
The contrast cannot be starker: selfie-taking tourists sipping coffee at Starbucks -- an icon of globalisation and capitalism -- while looking out over reclusive, communist North Korea.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Among voters under 35, the numbers were starker: 76% named cost of living a top concern, and just 13% approved of Congress.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
His Coachella set marked a starker departure from the previous night's headline act, Sabrina Carpenter, whose Hollywood-themed gig included costume changes, choreography and elaborate stage design.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026
The problems are even starker at Alexander McQueen, which runs about 135 shops but has been generating heavy losses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
Her room always made him feel wistful and envious for the abundance in which she dwelled—a stark contrast with his even starker room.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
The starkest contrast between then and now is the fiscal policy situation.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
The district court has now laid out, in the starkest terms, the stakes of this case for voting rights, racial equality, and judicial authority.
From Slate ● May 26, 2026
The recent attack on Sam Altman’s San Francisco mansion is the starkest example of this.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
Four recently published UCLA-led studies draw a direct line between climate disasters, housing instability and homelessness, with researchers pointing to the 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires as one of the starkest recent examples.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
Perhaps the starkest of these divisions was between South Africa’s two dominant groups, the Zulu and the Xhosa.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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.
