stern
adjective
firm, strict, or uncompromising.
Trivia Time
Which nautical term describes the direction toward a ship's stern?
stern
1 American
[sturn]
/ stɜrn /
adjective
-
sterner,
comparative
-
sternest
superlative
-
firm, strict, or uncompromising.
stern discipline.
- Synonyms:
- unfeeling, cruel, unsympathetic, unrelenting, adamant
- Antonyms:
- lenient
-
hard, harsh, or severe.
a stern reprimand.
- Synonyms:
- unfeeling, cruel, unsympathetic, unrelenting, adamant
-
rigorous or austere; of an unpleasantly serious character.
stern times.
-
grim or forbidding in aspect.
a stern face.
stern
2
American
[sturn]
/ stɜrn /
noun
-
sterns
plural
-
the after or rear part of a vessel (often opposed to bow orstem ).
The ship's stern was a glory of brightly painted carved figures of knights and mythical beasts.
-
the back or rear of anything.
-
Astronomy. Stern, 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
American
[sturn]
/ stɜrn /
noun
-
Isaac, 1920–2001, U.S. violinist, born in Russia.
-
Otto, 1888–1969, U.S. physicist, born in Germany: Nobel Prize 1943.
stern-
4
American
stern
1
British
/ 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
stern
2
British
/ 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
Stern
3
British
/ stɜːn /
noun
stern
Idioms
Synonym Usage
Stern, severe, harsh agree in referring to methods, aspects, manners, or facial expressions. Stern implies uncompromising, inflexible firmness, and sometimes a hard, forbidding, or withdrawn aspect or nature: a stern parent. Severe implies strictness, lack of sympathy, and a tendency to impose a hard discipline on others: a severe judge. Harsh suggests a great severity and roughness, and cruel, unfeeling treatment of others: a harsh critic.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of stern1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English styrne
Origin of stern2
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English sterne, probably from Old Norse stjōrn “steering” ( see sternpost)
Explanation
You know when you've done something really wrong, and the person who gets you in trouble has that unforgiving look on his face? The best word for that look is stern, meaning "strict" or "severe." Stern, strict, severe, harsh, unforgiving — they all more or less mean the same thing, which is very tough and exacting, with a little helping of seriousness thrown in for good measure. What does this have to do with the stern of a boat, also known as the rear area? Um, nothing? But it's good to know about that meaning too, since it could come in handy some day when you're giving directions on a ship.
Vocabulary lists containing stern
Words Every Pirate Should Know
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"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe
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List 6
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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:
First, Newton said, it’s hard to make a businesses on the border of California and Nevada choose California, with its higher taxes and stern regulatory environment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Russian ambassadors in Berlin, London, Paris, Brussels and other capitals have been summoned by their hosts for stern lectures.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
Sean and Jenny Taggart, 40-something Philadelphia residents on a camping sojourn through nearby Acadia National Park, had their binoculars fixed on puffins swimming off the stern of the tour boat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The stern and central section appear to have been covered with the same material, while researchers identified three distinct coating batches at the bow.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
Jason jumped over them, his sword drawn, and raced toward the stern.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
“We have discussed having a festival in Los Angeles since before COVID,” Stern said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Data from New York University’s Stern School of Business show that between Jan. 1, 1970 and Jan. 1, 1980, the S&P 500 in total earned you 4% above inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
She's deliberately planned her look - clothes, hair and jewellery - to separate herself from Stern and "be seen as me and not that character".
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Adina Stern, a German Jewish woman born in Berlin, is a coordinator of the Research Network on Antisemitism in the 21st Century at the Center for Research on Antisemitism at the city’s Technische Universität.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Back in the room, I knew I was in for a Stern Dad talking-to, so I did my best to disarm him before he could start in on me.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
In a few days I presented myself to a tall, stern- visaged man, who was slowly pacing the leeward side of the quarter- deck.
From The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales With Condensed Novels, Spanish and American Legends, and Earlier Papers by Bret Harte
"Forty, I should say — very handsome — rather stern- looking — and rich."
From Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
The men laid the fault on the stern- looking husband; the women, on the minx of a wife.
From Paul Clifford — Volume 06 by Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron Lytton
As near as I can tell, she has not got no wheel at all, side- or stern-.
From J. Poindexter, Colored by Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb
Upon closer approach the river shore was seen to be lined with scows and rowboats; a stern- wheeled river steamer lay moored abreast of the town.
From The Winds of Chance by Rex Ellingwood Beach
Boats have toppled pilings, and hard landings have cracked sterns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Navy said Revolutionary Guard vessels repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of several American ships at close range and high speed in the northern Gulf.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 22, 2020
With the sterns half-ashore, breakers could then cut in and dismantle the ships laterally, as a snacker might eat through a baguette.
From The Guardian ● May 2, 2017
Thousands of office workers rush past it every day without noticing its three bay windows carved as the sterns of baroque frigates, complete with waves, dolphins and trailing seaweed.
From New York Times ● Feb. 27, 2015
They are long, with pointed sterns and elaborately painted bodies.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
Fireworks can frighten animals and send them scattering, but Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets apparently are made of sterner stuff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
There are sterner tests to come for this attack, but this was encouraging.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
Rosenior will face a sterner test in his first home game on Wednesday when Chelsea host Premier League leaders Arsenal in the League Cup semi-final first leg.
From Barron's ● Jan. 10, 2026
But it remains to be seen whether this president and the country he leads are ready for the sterner tests to come.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025
The square line of his jaw seemed a little sterner and grimmer.
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
The blockage in the Persian Gulf poses the sternest test the reserves have ever faced.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
PSG come into the sternest test yet of their European title defence top of the French Ligue 1 and with three wins from three so far in the league phase.
From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2025
In death penalty cases, the legal system is put to its sternest test.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2025
Having moved serenely through the group stage, this was India's sternest test.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2025
He answered me in a way that I did not understand, but with the sternest look that his face could wear:—
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
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.
