How to use stark in a sentence
40 example sentences · adjective, adverb, verb
Stark means hard, firm; obdurate. Example: “I picked my way forlornly through the stark, sharp rocks.”
Examples of stark by meaning
adjectiveSevere; violent; fierce (now usually in describing the weather).
- Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest.2013 May 11, “The climate of Tibet: Pole-land”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8835, page 80
adjectivePlain in appearance; barren, desolate.
- I picked my way forlornly through the stark, sharp rocks.
- First, the stark message to “eat less” of a particular food has been deep-sixed; don’t look for it ever again in any official U.S. dietary pronouncement.2007 January 28, Michael Pollan, “Unhappy Meals”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
adjectiveComplete, absolute, full.
- I screamed in stark terror.
- A flower was growing, in stark contrast, out of the sidewalk.
adverbStarkly; entirely, absolutely.
- He's gone stark, staring mad.
- She was just standing there, stark naked.
More sentences with stark
- "Sadly, this is in stark contrast with the response from the Westminster government.2023 May 31, Mel Holley, “Network News: ASLEF recommends £71,000 pay deal for TfW drivers”, in RAIL, number 984, page 20. From the entry devolved
- The pandemic has highlighted the stark difference between Boristime and Coronatime.2021 November 2, John Crace, A Farewell to Calm: The New Normal Survival Guide, Faber & Faber, →ISBN, page 153. From the entry coronatime
- Some hated him for his attitude while others, including Shirmin, fancied his manoeuvrability and stark mannerism.2017, Kamlesh Choudhary, Vertical and the Organic. From the entry manoeuvrability
- Before him lay the Groan debtor's prison, a stark gray block against the iron sky.2017, Michael John Grist, The Saint's Rise. From the entry usure
- The ratio of young to old among the dead—roughly one to ten—ought to have been less stark.2017, Paul Midler, What's Wrong with China, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN. From the entry tofu dreg
- But Mam, Mam, what about that stark and wormy Sir Libogran, that . . . dragocidal maniac?2009, Tad Williams, “A Stark and Wormy Knight”, in Jack Dann, Gardner Dozois, editors, The Dragon Book, New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN…. From the entry unhaunted
- There are variations, like Al Held’s stark, existentialist compositions, with the canvas divided into quadrants.2007 August 31, The New York Times, “Art in Review”, in New York Times. From the entry frostinglike
- Installed in a stark London gallery, Emin's work symbolized the beach hut as icon of the seaside.2006, Fred Gray, chapter C, in Designing the Seaside: Architecture, Society and Nature, page 176. From the entry beach hut
- The gallery, which is stark and composed like a Madame Tussaud setpiece.1976 December 18, Don Shewey, “The Munch Piece Brings Canvas Alive”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 25, page 19. From the entry setpiece
- The British ambassador reported: ‘The day before yesterday, Berlin went stark raving mad.1931, R. B. Mowat, Great Britain and Germany in the Early Twentieth Century, in The English Historical Review, Vol. 46, No. 183. From the entry stark raving mad
- One of the smith-wrights was called Eckebrecht, Amongst the twelve companions starkest there.1924, Katherine Margaret Buck, The Wayland-Dietrich Saga. From the entry smith-wright
- But I got the flap turned back at last, and there was Ryan grey-faced and stark.1907, C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne, McTodd, page 232. From the entry be
- Admittedly, this is a rather stark interpretation of what empty nesting is going to be, but we hope we’re well-prepared.2025 August 10, Don Riddell, “Now that my kids are off to college, what’s this empty nester dad to do?”, in CNN. From the entry empty nesting
- Stark peeked up from her wire nest.2016, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Kate Wetherhead, Jack and Louisa - Act 1, page 108. From the entry x out
- Humans, in stark contrast, are the most altricious species known, and helpless for a very long time after birth.2014, Jim Davies, Riveted, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 111. From the entry altricious
- The stark glare reflecting from the screen spread a crazyquilt pattern of light and shadow across the vaulted ceiling above.2013, Douglas Schofield, Succession, page 37. From the entry crazyquilt
- Art nodded to me as he sat down, his toothbrushy white crew-cut standing in stark contrast to his deeply tanned skin.2010, Derek Gentry, Here Comes Your Man. From the entry toothbrushy
- The winterward heart moves to solstice with the stark sense that, tilted too far from its sun, it will chill.2009, Martin E. Marty, A Cry of Absence: Reflections for the Winter of the Heart, page 150. From the entry winterward
- Bush's stark line in the sand—We will make no distinction between the terrorists and those that harbor them—went ablur.2007, Robert Draper, Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush, Free Press, published 2008, →ISBN, page 207. From the entry ablur
- He takes a successful stab at anything futuristic: from cellophane-wrapped neon punks and abstract oriental peasantwear, to poetic stark white.2001, The Fashion Book, Phaidon, →ISBN, page 492. From the entry peasantwear
- He was mild to good men of God and stark beyond all bounds to those who withsaid his will.2000, James Farl Powers, Morte D'Urban. From the entry withsay
- The actor's uncompromising work stands in stark contrast to the rest of the film, which has a liberal-humanist slogginess.2000, New York - Volume 33, page 45. From the entry slogginess
- All around, wild flowers transform stark mountains into alpine paradises, and the song of the long-tailed meadowlark rises over open areas.2000, Michael Bright, Wild South America, BBC Worldwide, published 2000, page 52. From the entry long-tailed meadowlark
- Even worse, the zombies' clownish makeup, with a stark white base and black shoe polish around the eyes, looks amateurish.1998, Bryan Senn, Drums of Terror: Voodoo in the Cinema. From the entry clownish
- In stark contrast to the Europeanist tendency within the party and the Suez Group, this group had a short history.1997, S. Onslow, Backbench Debate within the Conservative Party and its Influence on British Foreign Policy, 1948-57, Springer, →ISBN…. From the entry tendency
- However, in stark contrast with the lactification principle so denigrated by Fanon, she decides to abort and come home.1995, Lillian S. Robinson, Modern women writers, volume 3, page 66. From the entry lactification
- Evil is stark, grim, and colossally real.1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., “The Death of Evil upon the Seashore”, in Strength to Love, New York: Pocket Books, published 1964, →OCLC…. From the entry evil
- The film itself is stark, minimalist, a single character in a non-descript liminal space, somewhat created in a vacuum of sublime and heightened intimacy.2023 February 16–21, Lynne Robinson, quoting John Biscello, “Behind the scenes of ‘The Bride’ with John Biscello”, in Tempo (Taos News)…. From the entry non-descript
- The latter authors also suggest that evolution of the crab-like form is irreversible, which stands in stark contrast to the notion of decarcinization.2021, WP Veldsman, Coconut Crab Genomics: A Study of Terrestrial Adaptation in the Anomura. From the entry decarcinization
- Grafting Tír na nÓg, the mythical land of eternal youth in Irish mythology, onto the Greek tragic tale is a stark and unexpected move.2020, Isabelle Torrance, “Post-Ceasefire Antigones and Northern Ireland”, in Isabelle Torrance, Donncha O'Rourke, editors, Classics and…. From the entry Tír na nÓg
- Stark blacks, whites and reds, alongside inky, sketchy lineart, the popularity of nu metal and emo kept Mall Gothic alive for all of the 00s.2020 August 6, @KaiserBeamz, Twitter, archived from the original on 02 Mar 2024. From the entry whimsigoth
- She covered her face with both hands, her dark umber skin a stark contrast to the white mesh sleeves of her electrostim cryosuit.2019, Dan Allen, The Exalting, Provo, U.T.: Future House Publishing, →ISBN, page 23. From the entry electrostim
- Or at the very least an inadequate wife and ungrateful mother–which is in stark contrast to the image I try to portray on Instagram.2016, Emily Giffin, First Comes Love: A Novel, New York City: Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 40. From the entry hashtag
Meaning of stark
- adjective Hard, firm; obdurate.
- adjective Severe; violent; fierce (now usually in describing the weather).
- adjective Strong; vigorous; powerful.
Questions about stark in a sentence
- How do you use stark in a sentence?
- Stark is used as an adjective, adverb and verb. For example: “I picked my way forlornly through the stark, sharp rocks.”
- What is a short sentence with stark?
- “He's gone stark, staring mad.”
- What does stark mean?
- Stark means hard, firm; obdurate.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: stark (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use stark in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/stark. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
