Adjacent Words

Stark definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

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.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

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, stark]
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, complete, consummate, double-dyed, everlasting, gross, perfect, pure, sodding, stark, staring, thoroughgoing, utter, 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"

Merriam Webster's

I. biographical name Johannes 1874-1957 German physicist II. biographical name John 1728-1822 American general in Revolution

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, stiff, strong, from Old English stearc; akin to Old High German starc strong, Lithuanian starinti to stiffen — more at stare Date: before 12th century 1. a. rigid in or as if in death b. rigidly conforming (as to a pattern or doctrine) ; absolute <stark discipline> 2. archaic strong, robust 3. utter, sheer <stark nonsense> 4. a. barren, desolate b. (1) having few or no ornaments ; bare <a stark white room> (2) harsh, blunt <the stark realities of death> 5. sharply delineated <a stark contrast> • starkly adverb • starkness noun II. adverb Date: 13th century 1. in a stark manner 2. to an absolute or complete degree ; wholly <stark naked> <stark mad>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

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

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(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

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

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

Moby Thesaurus

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