From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsternstern1 /stɜːn $ stɜːrn/ ●○○ adjective1STRICTserious and strict, and showing strong disapproval of someone’s behaviour
sterner penalties for drug offencesstern look/voice/expression etc
‘Wait!’ I shouted in my sternest voice.stern warning/rebuke
His actions have earned him stern rebukes from human rights organizations.► see thesaurus at strict2 →be made of sterner stuff —sternly adverb —sternness noun [uncountable]Examples from the Corpusstern• Sundram insisted the act was a reasonableresponse to the stern anti-drug law approved under then Gov.• Sheila walked into the museum, under the sterngaze of the curator.• a sternjudge• A sternjudgment indeed, but an accurate one none the less.• And she had also forgotten the sternlecture she had given herself earlier, she thought despairingly.• Her grandfather was a stern man who rarely smiled.• But Thursday morning beamingmanagers were replaced by sternsecurityguards who refused to even let workers into the building.• This time, however, the opposition was made of sternerstuff.• But he remindedreporters of the sternwarnings issued Sunday by Gen.• The uniforms were different but the faces were the same: narrow and stern with a hint of cruelty in the eyes.stern look/voice/expression etc• He spoke in a stern voice, nodding to-wards the stairs.• From within the universities there were stern voices of anti-vocationalism and resistance to public demands for responsiveness, strengthening the impression.• The Soviet boy stands straight, and salutes us with a stern expression on his face.• A stern voice spoke of the significance of this moment, the victoriousAllied forces coming together in Berlin.Related topics: Watersternstern2 noun [countable usually singular]TTWthe back of a ship → bowExamples from the Corpusstern• There was a mass of shipping in the port, small skiffs, boats, the huge heavy-bottomed sterns of Hanseatic merchantmen.• Marina was sat in the stern, the wind moving her hair as she looked out over the water.• The boy had backed out of the stern.• The waves which lapped over the stern of the raft were our waste-disposal system.• Water Gypsyshuddered from bow to stern.Originstern1Old Englishstyrnestern2(1200-1300) Probably from Old Norsestjorn“steering”
