stern meaning and definition

STERN noun

Definition of stern (noun)

1. the rear part of a ship
   • synonyms: after part, poop, quarter, tail
2. United States concert violinist (born in Russia in 1920)
   • synonyms: Isaac Stern
3. the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
   • "he deserves a good kick in the butt"; "are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?"
   • 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, tail, tail end, tooshie, tush

STERN adjective

Definition of stern (adjective)

1. of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect
   • "an austere expression"; "a stern face"
   • synonyms: austere
2. 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"
   • synonyms: grim, inexorable, relentless, unappeasable, unforgiving, unrelenting
3. severe and unremitting in making demands
   • "an exacting instructor"; "a stern disciplinarian"; "strict standards"
   • synonyms: exacting, strict
4. severely simple
   • "a stark interior"
   • synonyms: austere, severe, stark