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stern - definition and meaning
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Hard, harsh, or severe in manner or character: synonym: severe.
- adjective Showing or expressing displeasure or disapproval; forbidding or harsh.
- adjective Firm or unyielding; uncompromising.
- adjective Difficult to endure; oppressive.
- noun Nautical The rear part of a ship or boat.
- noun A rear part or section.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Same as
starn . - noun The rudder or helm of a vessel.
- noun Hence, figuratively, any instrument of management or direction; a guiding agent or agency; also, a post of direction or control.
- noun The hinder part of a ship or boat, where the rudder is placed; the part furthest removed from the stem or prow. See also cut under
poop . - noun The hinder parts, backside, buttocks, or rump; the tail of an animal.
- To steer; guide.
- To back (a boat) with the oars; back water; row backward.
- To draw back; back water: said of a boat or its crew.
- Severe in disposition or conduct; austere; harsh; rigorous; hard.
- Characterized by severity or rigor; especially, resulting from or expressive of harshness: as, a stern reply; a stern glance; a stern rebuke.
- Grim or forbidding in aspect; gloomy; repelling.
- Rough; violent; tumultuous; fierce.
- Rigid; stringent; strict.
- Stout; strong; heavy.
- Firm; unyielding; inflexible; hard.
- Synonyms Severe. Harsh, Strict, etc. See
austere . - 1 and
- Unrelenting, uncompromising, inflexible.
- noun A tern.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Being in the stern, or being astern.
- adjective (Naut.) a going or falling astern; a loss of way in making a tack. See
Board , n., 8 (b). - adjective (Naut.) A stern chaser.
- adjective (Naut.) a cannon placed in a ship's stern, pointing backward, and intended to annoy a ship that is in pursuit.
- adjective (Naut.) a rope used to confine the stern of a ship or other vessel, as to a wharf or buoy.
- adjective (Naut.) the framework of timber forms the stern of a ship.
- adjective See
Sternson . - adjective (Naut.) a port, or opening, in the stern of a ship.
- adjective (Naut.) that part of an open boat which is between the stern and the aftmost seat of the rowers, -- usually furnished with seats for passengers.
- adjective a paddle wheel attached to the stern of the steamboat which it propels.
- adjective Having a certain hardness or severity of nature, manner, or aspect; hard; severe; rigid; rigorous; austere; fixed; unchanging; unrelenting; hence, serious; resolute; harsh
- noun obsolete The helm or tiller of a vessel or boat; also, the rudder.
- noun (Naut.) The after or rear end of a ship or other vessel, or of a boat; the part opposite to the stem, or prow.
- noun Fig.: The post of management or direction.
- noun The hinder part of anything.
- noun The tail of an animal; -- now used only of the tail of a dog.
- noun (Naut.) See By the head, under
By . - noun (Zoöl.) The black tern.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun nautical The
rear part or after end of aship or vessel. - adjective Having a
hardness andseverity of nature or manner. - adjective
Grim andforbidding in appearance.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective severely simple
- noun the rear part of a ship
- noun the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
- adjective severe and unremitting in making demands
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Middle English sterne, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse stjōrn, rudder; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Middle English sterne, from Old English styrne; see ster- in Indo-European roots.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From Middle English stern, sterne, sturne, from Old English styrne ("stern, grave, strict, austere, hard, severe, cruel"), from Proto-Germanic *sturnijaz (“angry, astonished, shocked”), from Proto-Indo-European *ster-, *ter- (“rigid, stiff”). Cognate with Scots stern ("bold, courageous, fierce, resolute"), Old High German stornēn ("to be astonished"), Dutch stuurs ("glum, austere"), Swedish stursk ("insolent").
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Examples
-
“There are few things I would deny you, Daughter, without good reason,” Balm answered, her expression stern.
Shadow Chase Seressia Glass 2010
-
“There are few things I would deny you, Daughter, without good reason,” Balm answered, her expression stern.
Shadow Chase Seressia Glass 2010
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President Obama's promising what he calls a stern response if North Korea launches a missile, as it now threatens.
-
Before she could get any more information from him, Marco walked over to them, his expression stern.
That’s Amore Carol Grace 2003
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QUESTION: The Associated Press reports that in reaction to what they termed your stern rebuke of Jerry Thacker, a group called Human Rights Campaign said that while this was a positive development, the Bush administration's, quote, "Obsessive focus on abstinence as the solitary mechanism to prevent the transmission of HIV is not based on sound science."
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She liked him for a certain stern soberness that was his, and for his saving grace of humor.
CHAPTER 8 2010
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Storm of mutinous anger gathers round the Captain stern and true,
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Lavishness lives on among the audience members, whose gaudy fashion sense the evening I attended was in stern defiance of Mr. Zapatero's plan de austeridad.
In Madrid, the Party Goes On, Austero Style J. S. Marcus 2010
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CBS trying to sue stern is sour grapes and distracting from their FM disaster.
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I think howard stern is a pervert and i never give him the time of day.
Related Words
synonyms (130)
Words with the same meaning
- Spartan
- Spartanic
- adamant
- adamantine
- afterpart
- afterpiece
- arse
- ascetic
- ass
- astringent
- austere
- authoritarian
- back
- back door
- back seat
- back side
- backside
- beam
- behind
- bottom
- breech
- bum
- butt
- can
- cast-iron
- cheeks
- churlish
- counter
- crabbed
- crabby
- critical
- cruel
- crusty
- demanding
- derriere
- determined
- dour
- exacting
- exigent
- fanny
- fantail
- firm
- fixed
- flinty
- forbidding
- frowning
- gloomy
- grave
- grim
- gruff
- hard
- hard-core
- hard-hearted
- harsh
- heel
- hind end
- hind part
- hindhead
- immovable
- immutable
- implacable
- impliable
- inclement
- inelastic
- inexorable
- inflexible
- intransigent
- iron
- irreconcilable
- keister
- lugubrious
- meticulous
- mortified
- obdurate
- occiput
- pitiless
- poop
- posterior
- postern
- prat
- rear
- rear end
- rearward
- relentless
- resolute
- reverse
- rigid
- rigorous
- rock-ribbed
- rough
- rudderpost
- rugged
- rump
- rusty-dusty
- saturnine
- serious
- severe
- sour
- steadfast
- steely
- stiff
- stony
- strict
- stringent
- sullen
- taciturn
- tail
- tail end
- tailpiece
- tough
- tuchis
- tush
- tushy
- unaffected
- unalterable
- unbending
- unchangeable
- unchanging
- uncompromising
- unfeeling
- unforgiving
- ungentle
- ungiving
- unkind
- unmoved
- unrelenting
- unremitting
- unsparing
- unsympathetic
- unyielding
sionnach commented on the word stern
German for 'star'.
January 9, 2008