stern
1firm, strict, or uncompromising: stern discipline.
hard, harsh, or severe: a stern reprimand.
rigorous or austere; of an unpleasantly serious character: stern times.
grim or forbidding in aspect: a stern face.
Origin of stern
1synonym study For stern
Other words for stern
Opposites for stern
Other words from stern
- stern·ly, adverb
- stern·ness, noun
Other definitions for stern (2 of 4)
the after or rear part of a vessel (often opposed to bow or stem): The ship's stern was a glory of brightly painted carved figures of knights and mythical beasts.
the back or rear of anything.
Stern, Astronomy. the constellation Puppis.
Fox Hunting. the tail of a hound.
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.
Origin of stern
2Other definitions for Stern (3 of 4)
Isaac, 1920–2001, U.S. violinist, born in Russia.
Otto, 1888–1969, U.S. physicist, born in Germany: Nobel Prize 1943.
Other definitions for stern- (4 of 4)
variant of sterno- before a vowel: sternite.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use stern in a sentence
Hard was the struggle & therein waxed Hakon luckless; men fought from the prows and sterns, as the custom was in those times.
The Sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald The Tyrant (Harald Haardraade) | Snorri SturlusonShips filled the little bay, bows and sterns touching the shore on one side and the other.
My Life in Many States and in Foreign Lands | George Francis TrainThere was one chap made his fortune by 'round sterns,' though they were known in the Dutch Navy for two centuries.
Roland Cashel | Charles James LeverThe low racing sterns extended so far aft of my heels that the latter stood almost amidships.
Bizarre | Lawton MackallOn rushed the two motor craft, their prows exactly even and the propellers tossing up a bulge in the water at their sterns.
Tom Swift and his Motor-boat | Victor Appleton
British Dictionary definitions for stern (1 of 3)
/ (stɜːn) /
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
Origin of stern
1Derived forms of stern
- sternly, adverb
- sternness, noun
British Dictionary definitions for stern (2 of 3)
/ (stɜːn) /
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
relating to or located at the stern
Origin of stern
2British Dictionary definitions for Stern (3 of 3)
/ (stɜːn) /
Isaac. 1920–2001, US concert violinist, born in (what is now) Ukraine
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with stern
see from soup to nuts (stem to stern).
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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