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say it: sturn
stern is an adjective and noun meaning "of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect". It carries 7 recorded senses.
of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect
“an austere expression”
“a stern face”
not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty
“grim determination”
“grim necessity”
“Russia's final hour, it seemed, approached with inexorable certainty”
“relentless persecution”
“the stern demands of parenthood”
the rear part of a ship
United States concert violinist (born in Russia in 1920)
Soviet Union
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for stern come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.