Stark STARK, a. [G., stark, stiff, strong; formed on the root of the G., stiff, rigid. See Starch and Steer.]
1. Stiff; strong; rugged.
Many a nobleman lies stark and stiff, under the hoofs of vaunting enemies.
The north is not so stark and cold.
2. Deep; full; profound; absolute.
He pronounces the citation stark nonsense.
STARK, adv. Wholly; entirely; absolutely; as stark mad; stark blind; stark naked. These are the principal applications of this word now in use. The word is in popular use, but not an elegant word in any of its applications.

stark adj 1: devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment; "the blunt truth"; "the crude facts"; "facing the stark reality of the deadline" [syn: blunt, crude(a), stark(a)] 2: severely simple; "a stark interior" [syn: austere, severe, stark, stern] 3: complete or extreme; "stark poverty"; "a stark contrast" 4: without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers; "an arrant fool"; "a complete coward"; "a consummate fool"; "a double-dyed villain"; "gross negligence"; "a perfect idiot"; "pure folly"; "what a sodding mess"; "stark staring mad"; "a thoroughgoing villain"; "utter nonsense"; "the unadulterated truth" [syn: arrant(a), complete(a), consummate(a), double-dyed(a), everlasting(a), gross(a), perfect(a), pure(a), sodding(a), stark(a), staring(a), thoroughgoing(a), utter(a), unadulterated] 5: providing no shelter or sustenance; "bare rocky hills"; "barren lands"; "the bleak treeless regions of the high Andes"; "the desolate surface of the moon"; "a stark landscape" [syn: bare, barren, bleak, desolate, stark] adv 1: completely; "stark mad"; "mouth stark open"

stark karst skart

stark O.E. stearc "stiff, strong" (related to starian "to stare"), from P.Gmc. *starkaz. Meaning "utter, sheer, complete" first recorded 14c., that of "bare, barren" is from 1833. Stark naked (1530) is from M.E. start naked (13c.), from O.E. steort "tail, rump." Hence Brit. slang starkers "naked" (1923).

stark
adj. & adv.
--adj.
1 desolate, bare (a stark landscape).
2 sharply evident (in stark contrast).
3 downright, sheer (stark madness).
4 completely naked.
5 archaic strong, stiff, rigid.
--adv. completely, wholly (stark mad; stark naked).
Derivatives:
starkly adv. starkness n.
Etymology: OE stearc f. Gmc: stark naked f. earlier start-naked f. obs. start tail: cf. REDSTART

stark (starker, starkest) 1. Stark choices or statements are harsh and unpleasant. UK companies face a stark choice if they want to stay competitive... In his celebration speech, he issued a stark warning to Washington and other Western capitals. = harsh ADJ • starkly The point is a starkly simple one. ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj 2. If two things are in stark contrast to one another, they are very different from each other in a way that is very obvious. ...secret cooperation between London and Washington that was in stark contrast to official policy. ADJ • starkly The outlook now is starkly different. ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj 3. Something that is stark is very plain in appearance. ...the stark white, characterless fireplace in the drawing room. ADJ • starkly The desert was luminous, starkly beautiful... ADV: ADV adj, ADV with v

stark stɑ:k adj. & adv. --adj. 1 desolate, bare (a stark landscape). 2 sharply evident (in stark contrast). 3 downright, sheer (stark madness). 4 completely naked. 5 archaic strong, stiff, rigid. --adv. completely, wholly (stark mad; stark naked). øøstarkly adv. starkness n. [OE stearc f. Gmc: stark naked f. earlier start-naked f. obs. start tail: cf. REDSTART]

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\, 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\, v. t. To stiffen. [R.] If horror have not starked your limbs. --H. Taylor.

Stark, KS (city, FIPS 68025) Location: 37.68955 N, 95.14332 W Population (1990): 79 (42 housing units) Area: 0.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 66775

stark I. a. 1. Stiff, rigid. 2. Mere, simple, sheer, bare, downright, gross, unmistakable, pure, entire, absolute. II. ad. Wholly, entirely, completely, fully, absolutely.

stark stɑ:k adv. 1 completely, utterly, unqualifiedly, wholly, absolutely, entirely, totally, fully, altogether, plainly, obviously, clearly, certifiably: Is that an elephant on the beach, or am I going stark staring mad? The children were running around stark naked. --adj. 2 plain, simple, Spartan, severe, unembellished, unadorned, cold, bare, harsh, hard, grim, bald, blunt: The room looks less stark with curtains. Just give me the stark facts without all the elaboration. 3 harsh, severe, bleak, austere, barren, desolate, dreary, grey, depressing, ravaged, empty, vacant, Literary drear, Colloq US spooky: As day dawned, I looked out over the stark landscape of the nuclear winter. 4 sheer, complete, utter, absolute, perfect, pure, thorough, thoroughgoing, arrant, unmitigated, out-and-out, downright, outright, total, unconditional, unqualified, clear, plain, evident, obvious, patent, flagrant, gross, rank: They were shocked by the stark poverty they saw in the rural areas.

159 Moby Thesaurus words for "stark": Spartan, absolute, absolutely, altogether, arrant, ascetic, austere, bald, bare, barren, basic, blasted, bleak, blessed, blunt, candid, chaste, classical, clean, clear, clearly, cold, common, commonplace, complete, completely, confounded, consummate, crass, decided, definitive, depressing, desolate, direct, downright, drear, dreary, dry, dull, egregious, elementary, empty, entirely, essential, evident, flagrant, frank, fully, fundamental, glaring, grey, grim, gross, hard, harsh, homely, homespun, homogeneous, indivisible, infernal, inornate, intolerable, irreducible, irretrievably, irrevocably, lean, matter-of-fact, mere, monolithic, naked, natural, neat, nude, obvious, obviously, of a piece, open, out-and-out, outright, patent, perfect, perfectly, plain, plain-speaking, plain-spoken, plainly, plumb, positive, primary, profound, pronounced, proper, prosaic, prosing, prosy, pure, pure and simple, quite, rank, ravaged, raw, regular, right, rustic, severe, shattering, sheer, shocking, simon-pure, simple, simple-speaking, single, sober, spare, spooky, stark-naked, stark-staring, straightforward, stripped, superlative, surpassing, the veriest, thorough, thoroughgoing, total, totally, unadorned, unaffected, unbearable, unclad, unclothed, uncluttered, unconditional, unconscionable, undeniable, undifferenced, undifferentiated, unelaborate, unembellished, unenhanced, unequivocal, unfancy, unfussy, uniform, unimaginative, unmitigated, unornate, unpoetical, unqualified, unrelieved, unrelievedly, unspoiled, unvarnished, utter, utterly, vacant, vacuous, void, wholly

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