| English Dictionary |
STERN
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does Stern mean?
• STERN (noun)
The noun STERN has 3 senses:
1. the rear part of a ship
2. United States concert violinist (born in Russia in 1920)
3. the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
Familiarity information: STERN used as a noun is uncommon.
• STERN (adjective)
The adjective STERN has 4 senses:
1. of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect
2. not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty
3. severe and unremitting in making demands
4. severely simple
Familiarity information: STERN used as an adjective is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
The rear part of a ship
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
after part; poop; quarter; stern; tail
Hypernyms ("stern" is a kind of...):
back; rear (the side that goes last or is not normally seen)
Meronyms (parts of "stern"):
escutcheon ((nautical) a plate on a ship's stern on which the name is inscribed)
skeg (a brace that extends from the rear of the keel to support the rudderpost)
Holonyms ("stern" is a part of...):
ship (a vessel that carries passengers or freight)
Sense 2
Meaning:
United States concert violinist (born in Russia in 1920)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Synonyms:
Isaac Stern; Stern
Instance hypernyms:
fiddler; violinist (a musician who plays the violin)
Domain region:
Russia; Soviet Union; Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; USSR (a former communist country in eastern Europe and northern Asia; established in 1922; included Russia and 14 other soviet socialist republics (Ukraine and Byelorussia and others); officially dissolved 31 December 1991)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
Classified under:
Nouns denoting body parts
Synonyms:
arse; ass; backside; behind; bottom; bum; buns; butt; buttocks; can; derriere; fanny; fundament; hind end; hindquarters; keister; nates; posterior; prat; rear; rear end; rump; seat; stern; tail; tail end; tooshie; tush
Context example:
are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?
Hypernyms ("stern" is a kind of...):
body part (any part of an organism such as an organ or extremity)
Holonyms ("stern" is a part of...):
body; torso; trunk (the body excluding the head and neck and limbs)
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: sternest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect
Synonyms:
austere; stern
Context example:
a stern face
Similar:
nonindulgent; strict (characterized by strictness, severity, or restraint)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty
Synonyms:
grim; inexorable; relentless; stern; unappeasable; unforgiving; unrelenting
Context example:
the stern demands of parenthood
Similar:
implacable (incapable of being placated)
Derivation:
sternness (uncompromising resolution)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Severe and unremitting in making demands
Synonyms:
Context example:
strict standards
Similar:
demanding (requiring more than usually expected or thought due; especially great patience and effort and skill)
Derivation:
sternness (uncompromising resolution)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Severely simple
Synonyms:
Context example:
a stark interior
Similar:
plain (not elaborate or elaborated; simple)
Derivation:
sternness (the quality (as of scenery) being grim and gloomy and forbidding)
Context examples
I lay down in the old little bed in the stern of the boat, and the wind came moaning on across the flat as it had done before.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
“My hurt is nothing, sire, nor are my horses weary,” returned the stranger in a deep, stern voice.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He would be a harder, sterner man, not so ready to adapt himself to a silly girl's whim.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
His school of life had been sterner, and he was himself of sterner stuff.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Later in the day I got together the whole crew, and told them, as they evidently thought there was some one in the ship, we would search from stem to stern.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
And he and Redruth backed with a great heave that sent her stern bodily under water.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Perhaps it would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I meant it for the best.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"He is not stern and distant to his friends; and if he could speak, he would not be silent."
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
“That will do, Jim,” said his uncle, in a stern voice.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
When they were fast, bow and stern, and the two uninjured men prepared to come aboard, the hunter picked up his rifle as if to place it in a secure position.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"To know your limitations is the hallmark of a wise person." (Bhutanese proverb)
"If you had an opinion you better be determined." (Arabic proverb)
"Homes among homes and grapevines among grapevines." (Corsican proverb)