stern
/stɝn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.90 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Grim and forbidding in appearance.
noun
The post of management or direction.
Example Sentences
- "I haue beene wooed, as I intreat thee now, / Euen by the ſterne, and direfull God of warre, / VVhoſe ſinowie necke in battel nere did bow, / VVho conquers where he comes in euery iarre; […]"
- "stern as tutors, and as uncles hard"
- "Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins."
- "The remark earned me a stern rebuke."
- "these barren rocks, your stern inheritance"
- "Holonyms: watercraft < vessel"
Etymology
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- (“rigid, stiff”). Cognate with Scots stern (“bold, courageous, fierce, resolute”), Old High German stornēn (“to be astonished”), Dutch stuurs (“glum, austere”), Swedish stursk (“insolent”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /stɝn/
- British English: /stɜːn/