sternly
Americanadverb
-
in a firm, strict, or austere way.
Unless the government sternly cracks down on the underground economy, citizens will never pay their taxes diligently.
-
in a harsh, severe, or grim way.
Any baker caught mixing sawdust with bread or butcher selling horse meat as beef was immediately and sternly punished.
Etymology
Origin of sternly
First recorded before 1000; stern 1 ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )
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.
Mendel Uminer, a translator, scholar and literary-journal publisher, did not have a Collyer situation when he received a sternly worded letter from his building’s management company.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
"When you have lightning less than three miles away that’s a mandatory evacuation," a US Secret Service officer said sternly to a family that was protesting.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
Coming down sternly against the fake judgements, the top court last Friday stayed the lower court's order on the property dispute.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
But Mr. Lanthimos’s vision is sternly compelling, and “Bugonia” is that exceptional movie that’s extremely hard to forget.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
But Zeus looked at him sternly and told him he was as intolerable as his mother, and bade him cease his whining.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
