1
as in grim
harsh and threatening in manner or appearance
stark and forbidding mountains that the settlers knew that they would have to cross
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sheer
having no exceptions or restrictions
the school's stark prohibition against obscene slogans on clothing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in devoid
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 & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in desolate
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
a once-lush landscape rendered depressingly stark by strip-mining and deforestation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in spartan
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 & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stark
The evidence for environmental ruin, too, turns out to be less stark than advertised.
—
Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
The starkest difference is in how central Calvert-Lewin stays for Leeds in comparison to his Everton spell.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2026
This is in stark contrast to President Joe Biden’s approach, which was to forgive billions in outstanding obligations as a means of buying political support.
—Editorial, Boston Herald, 25 Jan. 2026
Obviously, all of this news is in stark contrast to the fact that the creator of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama, died back in 2024.
—Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stark
Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
The starkest difference is in how central Calvert-Lewin stays for Leeds in comparison to his Everton spell.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2026
This is in stark contrast to President Joe Biden’s approach, which was to forgive billions in outstanding obligations as a means of buying political support.
—Editorial, Boston Herald, 25 Jan. 2026
Obviously, all of this news is in stark contrast to the fact that the creator of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama, died back in 2024.
—Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stark
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stark
Adjective
-
Job prospects for 2026 are looking grim in many ways.—
Erik Sherman,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Tempted but reluctant to fork out the money, Hana runs some tests on the drug, and finds — in what one hopes is just a grim horror-film twist — that its composition comes down pretty much entirely to human ashes.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
El Capitan is a roughly 3,000-foot sheer granite wall — more than twice the height of the Empire State Building — in the northern valley of Yosemite National Park in California.—
Melissa Gaffney,
CBS News,
25 Jan. 2026
-
The sheer size and scope of the site presented a range of logistical challenges ahead of the reopening.—
Shomik Mukherjee,
Mercury News,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Banking has become functionally correct but emotionally devoid, with the industry swimming in a sea of sameness.—
Michael Abbott,
Forbes,
19 Mar. 2025
-
That devoid ingredient hindered things exponentially.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
15 Feb. 2024
Adjective
-
Gibney illustrates that state of waiting, of staving off what at that time appears to be the inevitable, with the famous sequence from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, in which Max von Sydow’s medieval knight plays chess with Death on a desolate beach.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Jan. 2026
-
Tautly written, this first novel by a former criminal lawyer who spent 17 years in the Arctic is a hard look at the desolate lives of people resigned to life in the bleak far north.—
Sandra Dallas,
Denver Post,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
In one corner stood a spartan single bed, in the other a small woodstove.—
Michael Pollan,
The Atlantic,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Frank unpacks with military precision and quickly makes the spartan space his own; neat but unfussy.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
25 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Approved by The Boss himself, the live-music and storytelling show finds Azaria slipping into his best Springsteen guise for a night of gruff tales and greatest hits.—
John Wenzel,
Denver Post,
24 Dec. 2025
-
The gory skit ends with the gruff older man rushing through the door to announce he’s made amends with his son, only to have his head sliced off by the flying chainsaw.—
Mitchell Peters,
Billboard,
21 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
In such a world, simple answers won’t do; only the courage to ask the hardest questions will push us forward.—
Daphne Koller,
Big Think,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Knox, who committed to wrestle at Rutgers University, and his dad were initially charged with simple assault for purposely/knowingly causing bodily injury after a brawl broke out at Collingswood High School on February.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
By the time Rasmus Dahlin’s empty-net goal hit the back of the net to complete his hat trick and put the finishing touch on Buffalo’s 7-4 lead, there weren’t enough Leafs fans left in the building to boo.—
Matthew Fairburn,
New York Times,
28 Jan. 2026
-
The gas station was mostly empty.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stark.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stark. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
