STERN Synonyms

• not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty

• shockingly repellent; inspiring horror

• harshly ironic or sinister

• harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance

• filled with melancholy and despondency

• causing dejection

• intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality

• very strong or vigorous

• severely simple

• unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or judgment

• causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm

• very bad in degree or extent

• characterized by strictness, severity, or restraint

• rigidly accurate; allowing no deviation from a standard

• (of rules) stringently enforced

• incapable of compromise or flexibility

• severe and unremitting in making demands

• having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration

• extended meanings; especially of psychological coldness; without human warmth or emotion

• a mild viral infection involving the nose and respiratory passages (but not the lungs)

• the absence of heat

• the sensation produced by low temperatures

• having lost freshness through passage of time

• (color) giving no sensation of warmth

• marked by errorless familiarity

• lacking originality or spontaneity; no longer new

• so intense as to be almost uncontrollable

• sexually unresponsive

• without compunction or human feeling

• feeling or showing no enthusiasm

• unconscious from a blow or shock or intoxication

• of a seeker; far from the object sought

• lacking the warmth of life

• stubbornly unyielding

• harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance

• showing a brooding ill humor

• an official prohibition or edict against something

• harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance

• threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments

• moody and melancholic

• showing a brooding ill humor

• death of a person

• a place for the burial of a corpse (especially beneath the ground and marked by a tombstone)

• a mark (`) placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation

• dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises

• causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm

• of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought

• shape (a material like stone or wood) by whittling away at it

• carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface

• not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure

• dispassionate

• resisting weight or pressure

• produced without vibration of the vocal cords

• (of light) transmitted directly from a pointed light source

• (of speech sounds); produced with the back of the tongue raised toward or touching the velum

• with effort or force or vigor

• with firmness

• earnestly or intently

• causing great damage or hardship

• slowly and with difficulty

• indulging excessively

• into a solid condition

• very near or close in space or time

• with pain or distress or bitterness

• to the full extent possible; all the way

• very strong or vigorous

• characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort

• given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors

• being distilled rather than fermented; having a high alcoholic content

• unfortunate or hard to bear

• dried out

• of textures that are rough to the touch or substances consisting of relatively large particles

• unpleasantly stern

• unpleasantly rough or jarring to the senses

• unkind or cruel or uncivil

• severe

• sharply disagreeable; rigorous

• incapable of being placated

• showing a brooding ill humor

• designating an airship or dirigible having a form maintained by a stiff unyielding frame or structure

• incapable of or resistant to bending

• incapable of compromise or flexibility

• incapable of adapting or changing to meet circumstances

• fixed and unmoving

• concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities

• completely lacking in playfulness

• of great consequence

• causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm

• appealing to the mind

• requiring effort or concentration; complex and not easy to answer or solve

• with sternness; in a severe manner

• not given to gentleness or sentimentality

• physically toughened

• resistant to cutting or chewing

• someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing

• an aggressive and violent young criminal

• a cruel and brutal fellow

• very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution

• substantially made or constructed

• violent and lawless

• feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad')

• unfortunate or hard to bear

• making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe

• lacking kindness

• deficient in humane and kindly feelings

• not smiling

• not sympathetic or disposed toward

• (of characters in literature or drama) tending to evoke antipathetic feelings

• not having an open mind

• lacking in sympathy and kindness

• not agreeing with your tastes or expectations