Starker

[ shtahr-ker ]

/ ˈʃtɑr kər /

noun

Ja·nos

[yah-nawsh] /ˈyɑ nɔʃ/, 1924–2013, U.S. cellist, born in Hungary.

QUIZZES

Discover The Influence Of Portuguese On English Via This Quiz!

We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?

Question 1 of 11

Which of the following bird names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?

owl

crow

piranha

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Definition for starker (2 of 2)

stark

[ stahrk ]

/ stɑrk /

adjective, stark·er, stark·est.

sheer, utter, downright, or complete: stark madness.

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

extremely simple or severe: a stark interior.

bluntly or sternly plain; not softened or glamorized: the stark reality of the schedule's deadline.

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.

Origin of stark

before 900; (adj.) Middle English; Old English stearc stiff, firm; cognate with German stark strong; akin to Old Norse sterkr strong; akin to starch, stare; (adv.) Middle English sterke, derivative of the adj.

OTHER WORDS FROM stark

stark·ly, adverbstark·ness, noun

synonym study for stark

2, 3. See austere, bare¹.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for starker

It was a bold, more overt, starker sense of humor level than they have had in the past.
Oscars Host Neil Patrick Harris on His Best and Worst Emcee Moments (VIDEO)|Neil Patrick Harris|October 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And we saw it this week in starker relief than we usually do.
A Most Revealing Week for Republicans|Michael Tomasky|April 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The contrast with those entrusted with the campaign could not have been starker.
Obama’s 2012 Campaign Prepped for Disaster. Obamacare Didn’t.|Lloyd Green|October 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
"There couldn't be a starker contrast," Axelrod said, slamming what he called Romney's "backwards-looking" approach.
Democrats Hit Romney on Marriage|Howard Kurtz|May 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST

The difference in approach has become all the starker as the financial crisis bites in the U.S.
Russians Win the Space Race|Owen Matthews, Anna Nemtsova|July 8, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Johnson's operations and his premises were so diminutive that for Winny—after Starker's—the descent seemed awful.
The Combined Maze|May Sinclair
He gave that up, and began to haunt the door in Starker's iron shutter at closing-time.
The Combined Maze|May Sinclair
At Starker's there was always a chance of something happening.
The Combined Maze|May Sinclair
After six weeks of it she began to long secretly for Starker's Millinery Saloons.
The Combined Maze|May Sinclair
She had got another situation at Starker's, in the millinery department.
The Combined Maze|May Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for starker (1 of 2)

stark

/ (stɑːk) /

adjective

(usually prenominal) devoid of any elaboration; bluntthe stark facts

grim; desolatea stark landscape

(usually prenominal) utter; absolutestark folly

archaic severe; violent

archaic, or poetic rigid, as in death (esp in the phrases stiff and stark, stark dead)

short for stark-naked

adverb

completelystark mad

Derived forms of stark

starkly, adverbstarkness, noun

Word Origin for stark

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

British Dictionary definitions for starker (2 of 2)

Stark

noun

(stɑːk) 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)

(German ʃtark) 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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Starker

noun

QUIZZES

Words related to Starker

Definition for starker (2 of 2)

adjective, stark·er, stark·est.

adverb

Origin of stark

OTHER WORDS FROM stark

synonym study for stark

Example sentences from the Web for starker

British Dictionary definitions for starker (1 of 2)

adjective

adverb

Derived forms of stark

Word Origin for stark

British Dictionary definitions for starker (2 of 2)

noun