Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
stark - 7 dictionary results
The Health Lawyers
 Wachler & Associates, PC: Lawyers specializing in Stark analysis
 www.starkattorneys.com
Online College is Cheaper
 Earn a degree in as few as 2 years. Full Financial aid available.
 Education180.com
Community College? No No
 Earn a university degree online in your spare time. Financial Aid too!
 TheEducationEdge.com

stark

  [stahrk] adjective, -er, -est, adverb
Use stark in a Sentence
–adjective
1. sheer, utter, downright, or complete: stark madness.
2. harsh, grim, or desolate, as a view, place, etc.: a stark landscape.
3. extremely simple or severe: a stark interior.
4. bluntly or sternly plain; not softened or glamorized: the stark reality of the schedule's deadline.
5. stiff or rigid in substance, muscles, etc.
6. rigid in death.
7. Archaic. strong; powerful; massive or robust.
–adverb
8. utterly, absolutely, or quite: stark mad.
9. Chiefly Scot. and North England. in a stark manner; stoutly or vigorously.
Origin:
bef. 900; (adj.) ME; OE stearc stiff, firm; c. G stark strong; akin to ON sterkr strong; akin to starch, stare; (adv.) ME sterke, deriv. of the adj.

Related forms:
starkly, adverb
starkness, noun

Synonyms:
2, 3. See austere, bare.
The Health Lawyers
 Wachler & Associates, PC: Lawyers specializing in Stark analysis
 www.starkattorneys.com

Stark

  [stahrk; for 2 also Ger. shtahrk]
–noun
1. Harold Rayns⋅ford  [reynz-ferd] , 1880–1972, U.S. admiral.
2. Jo⋅han⋅nes  [yoh-hah-nuhs] , 1874–1957, German physicist: Nobel prize 1919.
3. John, 1728–1822, American Revolutionary War general.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To stark
stark   (stärk)   
adj.   stark·er, stark·est
  1. Bare or blunt: "His language has become increasingly stark, to the point of sounding strident" (Robert Pear).
  2. Complete or utter; extreme: stark poverty; a stark contrast.
  3. Harsh; grim: "faced with that stark future" (Robert C. McFarlane). "[They] found it hard to accept such a stark portrait of unrelieved failure" (W. Bruce Lincoln).
adv.  Utterly; entirely: stark raving mad.

[Middle English, stiff, severe, strong, from Old English stearc; see ster-1 in Indo-European roots.]
stark'ly adv., stark'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Stark

Stark\, a. [Compar. Starker; superl. Starkest.] [OE. stark stiff, strong, AS. stearc; akin to OS. starc strong, D. sterk, OHG. starc, starah, G. & Sw. stark, Dan. st[ae]rk, Icel. sterkr, Goth. gasta['u]rknan to become dried up, Lith. str["e]gti to stiffen, to freeze. Cf. Starch, a. & n.]

1. Stiff; rigid. --Chaucer.

Whose senses all were straight benumbed and stark. --Spenser.

His heart gan wax as stark as marble stone. --Spenser.

Many a nobleman lies stark and stiff Under the hoofs of vaunting enemies. --Shak.

The north is not so stark and cold. --B. Jonson.

2. Complete; absolute; full; perfect; entire. [Obs.]

Consider the stark security The common wealth is in now. --B. Jonson.

3. Strong; vigorous; powerful.

A stark, moss-trooping Scot. --Sir W. Scott.

Stark beer, boy, stout and strong beer. --Beau. & Fl.

4. Severe; violent; fierce. [Obs.] "In starke stours." [i. e., in fierce combats]. --Chaucer.

5. Mere; sheer; gross; entire; downright.

He pronounces the citation stark nonsense. --Collier.

Rhetoric is very good or stark naught; there's no medium in rhetoric. --Selden.

Stark

Stark\, adv. Wholly; entirely; absolutely; quite; as, stark mind. --Shak.

Held him strangled in his arms till he was stark dead. --Fuller.

Stark naked, wholly naked; quite bare.

Strip your sword stark naked. --Shak.

Note: According to Professor Skeat, "stark-naked" is derived from steort-naked, or start-naked, literally tail-naked, and hence wholly naked. If this etymology be true the preferable form is stark-naked.

Stark

Stark\, v. t. To stiffen. [R.]

If horror have not starked your limbs. --H. Taylor.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : stark
Italian: desolato,
German: kahl,
Japanese: 荒涼とした
More Translations »

stark 
O.E. stearc "stiff, strong" (related to starian "to stare"), from P.Gmc. *starkaz (cf. O.N. sterkr, O.Fris. sterk, M.Du. starc, O.H.G. starah, Ger. stark, Goth. *starks), from PIE base *ster- "stiff, rigid" (see stare). Meaning "utter, sheer, complete" first recorded c.1400, perhaps from infl. of common phrase stark dead (c.1375), with stark mistaken as an intensive adj. Sense of "bare, barren" is from 1833. Stark naked (1530) is from M.E. start naked (c.1225), from O.E. steort "tail, rump." Hence Brit. slang starkers "naked" (1923).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see stark on Thesaurus | Reference
Online College is Cheaper
 Earn a degree in as few as 2 years. Full Financial aid available.
 Education180.com
Community College? No No
 Earn a university degree online in your spare time. Financial Aid too!
 TheEducationEdge.com