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stark

 - 4 dictionary results
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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.
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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.
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Word Origin & History

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
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