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.
Sternly handsome, he resembles a noir version of Paul McCartney.
From Washington Post • Feb. 13, 2017
Sternly Nelson warned that war production still came first, that "the next three months will in some ways be the most critical we have yet faced."
From Time Magazine Archive
Sternly, Mobutu sent back word not to harm the prisoner and dispatched a plane to pick him up.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sternly the man next to him replies: "To Waterloo."
From Time Magazine Archive
Sternly she bade the slave bring her a battle-ax.
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.
