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stern1

[sturn]
adjective, stern·er, stern·est.
  1. firm, strict, or uncompromising: stern discipline.
  2. hard, harsh, or severe: a stern reprimand.
  3. rigorous or austere; of an unpleasantly serious character: stern times.
  4. grim or forbidding in aspect: a stern face.
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Origin of stern1

before 1000; Middle English; Old English styrne
Related formsstern·ly, adverbstern·ness, noun

Synonyms

1, 2. adamant, unrelenting, unsympathetic, cruel, unfeeling. 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 Stern implies uncompromising, inflexible firmness, and sometimes a hard, forbidding, or withdrawn aspect or nature: a stern parent.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.

Antonyms

1. lenient.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

toughharshflintyhard-nosedstrictrigidgrimsteelyforbiddingroughastringentbitterasceticausterebullheadedcrueldisciplinarydyed-in-the-woolhardhard-boiled

Examples from the Web for sterner

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • He was rid of Mrs. Hallam, if face to face with a sterner problem.

    The Black Bag

    Louis Joseph Vance

  • The business of love was at hand—ever a sterner and crueller business than that of food-getting.

    White Fang

    Jack London

  • His school of life had been sterner, and he was himself of sterner stuff.

    White Fang

    Jack London

  • Some dread forewarning of a sterner fate seemed to hang above him.

  • With the coming of daylight a sterner spirit of inquiry came upon him.

    A Son of Hagar

    Sir Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for sterner

stern1

adjective
  1. showing uncompromising or inflexible resolve; firm, strict, or authoritarian
  2. lacking leniency or clemency; harsh or severe
  3. relentless; unyieldingthe stern demands of parenthood
  4. having an austere or forbidding appearance or nature
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Derived Formssternly, adverbsternness, noun

Word Origin

Old English styrne; related to Old High German stornēn to alarm, Latin sternāx stubborn, Greek stereos hard

stern2

noun
  1. the rear or after part of a vessel, opposite the bow or stem
  2. the rear part of any object
  3. the tail of certain breeds of dog, such as the foxhound or beagle
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adjective
  1. relating to or located at the stern
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Word Origin

C13: from Old Norse stjōrn steering; see steer 1

Stern

noun
  1. Isaac. 1920–2001, US concert violinist, born in (what is now) Ukraine
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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

Word Origin and History for sterner

stern

adj.

Old English styrne "severe, strict," from Proto-Germanic *sternijaz (cf. Middle High German sterre, German starr "stiff," störrig "obstinate;" Gothic andstaurran "to be stiff;" Old Norse stara; Old English starian "to look or gaze upon"), from PIE root *ster-, *star- "be rigid" (see sterile).

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stern

n.

c.1300, "hind part of a ship, steering gear of a ship," probably from Old Norse stjorn "a steering," related to styra "to guide" (see steer (v.)). Or the word may come from Old Frisian stiarne "rudder," which is also related to steer (v.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with sterner

stern

see from soup to nuts (stem to stern).

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.