stern
adjective
firm, strict, or uncompromising.
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 Stern implies uncompromising, inflexible firmness, and sometimes a hard, forbidding, or withdrawn aspect or nature: a stern parent.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:
All this might have been dismissed as frivolous chatter - until state media and authorities chimed in with stern words for Xie.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
His dry sense of humour shone through at press conferences, far from the serious and stern Clarke which returned post-Brazil.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Goosebumps blossomed on my skin as Mexico’s head coach Javier Aguirre, he of a stern face and gray haircut worthy of a drill sergeant, beamed while singing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
Glenn Fleshler makes a strong impression as a stern Lord Capulet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
I found Lev in the storage room, overseeing a delivery of linen tachrichim with the same stern solemnity he displayed when tending to corpses.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Russell Crowe bought a Mosasaur skull for his kids from Leonardo DiCaprio for $35,000 in 2008 while the two were hanging out and drinking, the actor said on “The Howard Stern Show” in 2009.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
“Lindsey was good company,” Clinton told Howard Stern in 2019, “he was funny, he was self-deprecating. He also believed in climate change back in those days.”
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
Several of the smartest legal experts will join my colleagues Mark Joseph Stern and Dahlia Lithwick for a live video chat about everything that happened at the high court this year.
From Slate ● Jul. 9, 2026
Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, said it was important to highlight that some degree choices such as the arts, were "not motivated by money".
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
“You stay away from him,” my father said, doing his best Stern Dad voice.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
"Forty, I should say — very handsome — rather stern- looking — and rich."
From Far from the Madding Crowd by Hardy, Thomas
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 Beach, Rex Ellingwood
The men laid the fault on the stern- looking husband; the women, on the minx of a wife.
From Paul Clifford — Volume 06 by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
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 Harte, Bret
As near as I can tell, she has not got no wheel at all, side- or stern-.
From J. Poindexter, Colored by Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)
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
Gone are Sceptre's tubby lines; the new boats have a swift, made-in-U.S. look with sharp, clean bows, narrow hulls and wide sterns.
From Time Magazine Archive
When seventeenth-century European sailors first saw the southern skies they put objects of seventeenth- century interest in the heavens—toucans and peacocks, telescopes and microscopes, compasses and the sterns of ships.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
The 2024 US Open semi-finalist reaching the Eastbourne semi-finals in his comeback tournament was very promising, although the rigours of five-set matches will be a sterner examination of his fitness.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
With his latest, “Kontinental ’25,” Jude — who also put out a coarsely wacky version of “Dracula” last year — shifts away from clownishness and toward a sterner register of concern for society.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
Much sterner tests lie ahead for Rosenior, starting with a visit from Premier League leaders Arsenal in the League Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday.
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
Jeyne covered her eyes whenever a man fell, like a frightened little girl, but Sansa was made of sterner stuff.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
The blockage in the Persian Gulf poses the sternest test the reserves have ever faced.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
The Islamic Republic's system faces its sternest test.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026
Friday's opener represents the sternest test yet for Yesavage, who will face a Dodgers batting lineup led by Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2025
In death penalty cases, the legal system is put to its sternest test.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2025
A guidance counselor came by and gave Kitty her sternest voice and shook several of her fingers at her.
From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers
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.
