stern1
/stəːn
/adjective
1(Of a person or their manner) serious and unrelenting, especially in the assertion of authority and exercise of discipline: a smile transformed his stern face Mama looked stern...
- For those who expect a stern teacher and a serious photographer, he is a bundle of surprise.
- He was my mother's favorite brother and our least favorite Uncle; he was too stern, too serious, too strict.
- But she was stern in demeanor and normally carried a serious face.
Synonyms
serious, unsmiling, frowning, poker-faced, severe, forbidding, grim, unfriendly, sombre, grave, sober, austere, dour, stony, flinty, steely, unrelenting, unyielding, unforgiving, unbending, unsympathetic, disapproving
rare Rhadamanthine
British informal boot-faced
1.1(Of an act or statement) strict and severe: stern measures to restrict vehicle growth...
- He still spoke in his cool voice but it was a stern statement.
- After 50 minutes of stern questions and answers - the length of a typical undergraduate class - the interrogation is over.
- And they have issued a stern warning to those responsible: Stop before somebody dies.
Synonyms
strict, severe, stringent, harsh, drastic, hard, tough, fierce, extreme, rigorous, rigid, exacting, demanding, uncompromising, unsparing, inflexible, authoritarian, draconian
North American informal badass
Australian/New Zealand informal solid
1.2(Of competition or opposition) putting someone or something under extreme pressure: the past year has been a stern test of the ability of British industry...
- The controversial plan is facing stern opposition by locals and following a very well attended meeting last month this months meeting is set once again to draw a very large crowd.
- Leitrim did provide stern opposition for long periods, but Sligo's superior skill and fitness levels ensured that they prevailed in the end.
- Only bitter rivals New Zealand provide stern opposition, but recently the Aussies have been getting the better of these encounters.
Phrases
be made of sterner stuff
the sterner sex
Derivatives
sternness
/ noun ...- In a field rooted in moral concern, there is a long tradition of solemnity and sternness.
- ‘Get out of here,’ she'll warn with a phony sternness.
- Part of this was due to the sternness of the Captain.
Origin
Old English styrne, probably from the West Germanic base of the verb stare.
Rhymes
stern2
/stəːn/noun
1The rearmost part of a ship or boat: he stood at the stern of the yacht...
- The overtaking boat should slow down when just aft the stern of the boat being overtaken and proceed around at the slowest speed possible to pass.
- The docking bay, with doors at the stern of the ship, can be flooded for amphibious operations using small landing craft.
- The towed sonar and towed decoys are launched from the stern of the ship.
Synonyms
rear end, rear, back, tail, poop
1.1 humorous A person’s bottom: my stern can’t take too much sun
Derivatives
sterned
[in combination]: a square-sterned vessel
sternmost
- You could continue to the stern and pass over a salvage hole towards the sternmost pair of 6 inch guns.
- The sternmost sections of the upper two decks were open and, not surprisingly, were cold and wet.
- Canoeing is usually done in pairs: the sternmost person is responsible for steering while the speed depends on the foremost one.
sternwards
- Continuing sternwards, the empty mounting for the stern navigation light can be found behind a raised box at the aft end of the superstructure.
- Looking sternwards, the high funnel lay immediately before us.
- Heading sternwards on the starboard side of the wreck, the first few metres are just the flat base of the double-bottomed hull.
Origin
Middle English: probably from Old Norse stjórn 'steering', from stýra 'to steer'.