View synonyms for sternly

sternly

[ sturn-lee ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adverb

in a firm, strict, or austere way:
Unless the government sternly cracks down on the underground economy, citizens will never pay their taxes diligently.
in a harsh, severe, or grim way:
Any baker caught mixing sawdust with bread or butcher selling horse meat as beef was immediately and sternly punished.

Origin of sternly¹

First recorded before 1000; stern ¹( def ) + -ly ( def )

Or as her mother tells her, sternly, “You got to accept that life is full of disappointments.”

“The witness only thought that he had a sure thing,” the judge says sternly.

Every article on good divorce that I looked at sternly warned: “never disagree or argue in front of the children.”

As your president,” Bush said sternly, “I guarantee you, this violence will end.

Instead, she released a sternly worded statement and took off with her sons to a house in the country.

And now, almost without knowing it, he spoke sternly, and his dark face was full of condemnation.

“Let no one in,” said Longcluse sternly to the man, who locked the iron gate on their passing out.

As they there stand for a minute under the lamp, Mr. Longcluse, gazing at him sternly from the stair, caught his eye.

"You must promise never again to leave without permission, or this is your last scout with me," said Harry, sternly.

Here is a thing sternly condemned in the older thought as an economic impossibility.

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