- sternness
- noun1. the quality (as of scenery) being grim and gloomy and forbidding-
the sternness of his surroundings made him uncomfortable
• Derivationally related forms: ↑stern• Hypernyms:↑asperity, ↑grimness, ↑hardship, ↑rigor, ↑rigour, ↑severity, ↑severeness, ↑rigorousness, ↑rigourousness2. uncompromising resolution• Syn: ↑strictness• Derivationally related forms: ↑strict (for: ↑strictness), ↑stern• Hypernyms: ↑unpermissiveness, ↑restrictiveness• Hyponyms:↑Puritanism, ↑severity, ↑severeness, ↑harshness, ↑rigor, ↑rigour, ↑rigorousness, ↑rigourousness, ↑inclemency, ↑hardness, ↑stiffness
Useful english dictionary. 2012.