stark

stark

adjective

Definition of STARK

1

harsh and threatening in manner or appearance <stark and forbidding mountains that the settlers knew that they would have to cross>

Synonyms austere, dour, fierce, flinty, forbidding, gruff, intimidating, lowering (also louring), rough, rugged, severe, stark, steely, stern, ungentle

Related Words bleak, cold, hostile, inhospitable, inimical, unfriendly, unsympathetic; adamant, bound, determined, firm, intent, purposeful, resolute, resolved, steadfast, unflinching; fixed, hard, hardened, hardheaded, immovable, implacable, inflexible, ironhanded, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, rigid, self-willed, set, stiff, stubborn, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, willful (or wilful); immutable, unchangeable; black, cheerless, dark, gloomy, glum, joyless, melancholic, moody, morose, sulky, sullen, surly; brooding, grave, humorless, melancholy, serious, sober, sobersided, solemn, somber (or sombre), staid, unsmiling, weighty

Near Antonyms bland, meek, mellow, soft, soothing; easy, quiet, tranquil; agreeable, bright, cheerful, inviting, pleasant, pleasing, sweet; glad, happy, lighthearted, merry, mirthful, sunny; featherbrained, flighty, frivolous, giddy, goofy, harebrained, light-headed, playful, scatterbrained, silly

Antonyms benign, benignant, gentle, mild, nonintimidating, tender

2

having no exceptions or restrictions <the school's stark prohibition against obscene slogans on clothing>

Synonyms all-out, arrant, blank, blooming [chiefly British], bodacious [Southern & Midland], categorical (also categoric), clean, complete, consummate, cotton-picking, crashing, damn, damned, dead, deadly, definite, downright, dreadful, fair, flat, flat-out, out-and-out, outright, perfect, plumb, profound, pure, rank, regular, sheer, simple, stark, stone, straight-out, thorough, thoroughgoing, total, unadulterated, unalloyed, unconditional, unmitigated, unqualified, utter, very

Related Words authentic, classic, genuine, real, veritable; constant, endless, eternal, perpetual, undying, unremitting; extreme, unrestricted; confirmed, habitual, hopeless, inveterate; extraordinary, frightful, horrible, huge, main, superlative, supreme, surpassing, terrible, terrific

Near Antonyms doubtful, dubious, equivocal, qualified, questionable, restricted, uncertain

3

lacking contents that could or should be present <house buyers trying to imagine what those stark rooms would look like when filled with furniture>

Synonyms bare, blank, clean, devoid, stark, toom [chiefly Scottish], vacant, vacuous, void

Related Words barren, hollow; available, clear, free, open; unfilled, unfurnished; unattended, uninhabited, unoccupied; abandoned, deserted, emptied, forsaken, vacated; depleted, drained, dry, exhausted

Near Antonyms complete; replete; furnished, provided, supplied; filled, occupied; flush, overflowing, packed, teeming

Antonyms full

4

producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation <a once-lush landscape rendered depressingly stark by strip-mining and deforestation>

Synonyms bony (also boney), dead, desolate, hardscrabble, impoverished, infertile, poor, stark, unfertile, unproductive, waste

Related Words bleak, inhospitable, lifeless; uncultivable, untillable; bankrupted, consumed, debilitated, depleted, diminished, drained, dried-up, enfeebled, exhausted, expended, lessened, reduced, spent, used up; arid, desert, droughty, dry, rainless, sere (also sear), thirsty, waterless; baked, dehydrated, parched, sunbaked

Near Antonyms arable, tillable; green, sylvan, verdant

Antonyms fertile, fruitful, lush, luxuriant, productive, rich

5

providing only the essentials and nothing fancy or luxurious <monks who have committed themselves to living in stark cells and working and praying in silence>

Synonyms austere, spartan, stark

Related Words plain, simple, unadorned, undecorated, unelaborate, unfancy

Near Antonyms adorned, decorated, elaborate, fancy

Antonyms deluxe, Lucullan (also Lucullian), luxe, luxurious, plush