Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use stern in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun, verb

Stern means having a hardness and severity of nature or manner. Example: “The remark earned me a stern rebuke.”

Examples of stern by meaning

adjectiveHaving a hardness and severity of nature or manner.

  • From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins.2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76

adjectiveGrim and forbidding in appearance.

  • The remark earned me a stern rebuke.

nounThe rear part (after end) of a ship or other vessel.

  • Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

More sentences with stern

  • Her outside was stern, but inside was a heart of gold.From the entry outside
  • A stern voice boomed over the loudspeaker.From the entry over
  • He had planned to ground his son for a month, but relented and decided to give him a stern lecture instead.From the entry relent
  • The saloon, instead of being at the stern, according to the old method of construction, is placed more amidships.From the entry amidships
  • The Indomitable raked the frigate’s stern with double-shotted guns.From the entry double-shot
  • The supervising teacher's stern expression at the front of the drab study hall left little doubt that no nonsense would be tolerated there.From the entry study hall
  • The lower the fare revenue, the sterner the job cuts could be.2022 March 23, Paul Clifton, “Londoners pay the price”, in RAIL, number 953, page 49. From the entry self-defeating
  • A dwarf.' 'I am not a dwarf.' Maude Benet had been stern.2016 November 3, Shirley McKay, 1588: A Calendar of Crime: A Novel in Five Books, Casemate Publishers, →ISBN. From the entry mimmerkin
  • By turns she could be goofy and serious, playful and big-sisterly stern.2015, Guy Vanderhaeghe, “Koenig & Company”, in Daddy Lenin and Other Stories, McClelland & Stewart. From the entry big-sisterly
  • After a few more raps and some stern looks, there was silence.2014, Jolie Jaquinta, “Throne of the Sea”, in Red Queen, →ISBN. From the entry cecaelia
  • The solo paddler's body rotates onside with the onside shoulder turned towards the stern.2011, Introduction to Paddling: Canoeing Basics for Lakes and Rivers, →ISBN. From the entry onside
  • Stern for help in his intraunion fight, generating complaints that Mr.2009 May 30, Steven Greenhouse, “Leader of Garment and Hotel Workers’ Union Resigns”, in New York Times. From the entry intraunion
  • Weighing in at four pounds, the lobster was rubbery and tasteless from stem to stern.2005 Oct. 12, Marian Burros, "Take My Steak. Please." (restaurant review), New York Times (retrieved 23 Aug. 2012). From the entry from stem to stern
  • Then the sails on the mainmast were backing and we started getting stern way.2001, Russell Drumm, The Barque of Saviors, Houghton Mifflin, page 91. From the entry aback
  • 'One was off the bow, another alongside, yet another off the stern.2000, Marie Heaney, editor, Sunday Miscellany: A Selection from 1995-2000, Town House, page 22. From the entry shiver
  • The Verna swerved close, her stern kicking up a stew as she started to back up.1994, Leftare P. Delis, The Inside Passage, page 166. From the entry stew
  • A quartet of porphyry warriors, locked for all time in stern embrace outside St.1980, Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians, page 43. From the entry porphyry
  • His mother had come into the bathroom too quickly; Father was stern.1964, George Deaux, The Humanization of Eddie Cement, page 87. From the entry fudd
  • China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued stern warning No. 74.1960 February 26, Communist China Digest, number 10, United States Joint Publications Research Service, published 1998, →OCLC, page 4. From the entry P'ing-t'an
  • Stern and his smiling wife (I am Louis and this is Christina).1957 March 7, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 4.3, in Pnin, Heinemann, page 90. From the entry radiophile
  • The masters looked unusually stern, but it was the sternness of thought rather than of discipline.1956, Michael Arlen, “1/1/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days. From the entry discipline
  • And Agnes Moorehead henpecks with stern persistence as Parthy, the captain's loving wife.1951 July 20, Bosley Crowther, “THE SCREEN: A MUSICAL FAVORITE AT RADIO CITY; 'Show Boat,' Metro Remake of Hit, With Kathryn Grayson in…. From the entry showboat
  • The warden of the state prison, Ezekiel Purdy, was a kind man if stern.1934, Nathanael West, “Chapter 7”, in A Cool Million. From the entry warden
  • Now crown Duty with Desire and see how the stern, forbidding, Gorgon-like features change!1926 March 29, William Carter, “Duty and Desire”, in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, volume 86, number 87, New York, N.Y., page 15, column 4. From the entry bad-temperedness
  • This was, by every earthly canon, a good man, but a stern and unsupple.1918, Mary Johnston, Foes. From the entry unsupple
  • Kaisers and Kaiserins and Count Zeppelins should be made of sterner stuff.[1917], Herbert Warren, “‘And such a brave Zepp he was’”, in The “Land & Water” Edition of Raemaekers’ Cartoons, volume II, London: […]…. From the entry kaiserin
  • Once enknitted into the stern fibre that ran through all her moods, it sought fields of operation.1901, Basil Marnan, A Daughter of the Veldt, page 301. From the entry enknit
  • Notwithstanding his apparent ineptitude, Carlos Sánchez has 88 caps for Colombia, who always give our nation's finest a stern test.2023 January 9, Paul Brand, Fortune's Always Hiding: From Stratford to Seville, Pitch Publishing Limited, →ISBN. From the entry steal a living
  • Nick Saban is known for his solemn and stern demeanor.2021 September 21, “Mac Jones confirms Nick Saban's love for 'deez' jokes”, in NBC Sports. From the entry deez nuts
  • People in my hometown sound very abrupt and stern.2017, Daniel Tudor, quoting Je Son Lee, “Pyongyang vs. the Rest”, in Ask a North Korean: Defectors Talk about their Lives inside the…. From the entry Chagang
  • She gave me a stern turtlesque look.2016, A.E. Davis, Forks, page 369. From the entry turtlesque
  • I don't do moody or wounded or stern.2015, Michael Moorcock -, The Whispering Swarm: Book One of The Sanctuary of the White Friars, →ISBN. From the entry head game
  • The full stem to stern bifta, as they said.2015, J. R. Ward, Blood Kiss, →ISBN. From the entry bifta
  • The first three times I drew stern, shushy looks.2015, Herb Payson, Blown Away, page 160. From the entry shushy
  • They were having a whale of a time when a very stern looking shop assistant came over to tell them off.2013, Fred Holtby, Chris Lovie, ROWDY - THE STORY OF A POLICE DOG, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 105. From the entry whale
  • Located in the stern of the ship, cabin class was less spacious than first, but definitely not cheap.2013, Steven Ujifusa, A Man and His Ship, page 257. From the entry cabin class
  • The skipper, Matt Craughwell, said their boat had begun to take on water after being tossed, stern upwards, by huge waves.2012 January 31, Charlie Cooper, Simon Rice, “How six would-be record-breakers ended up in seriously deep water”, in Independent, UK…. From the entry take on water

Meaning of stern

  1. adjective Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.
  2. adjective Grim and forbidding in appearance.
  3. noun The rear part (after end) of a ship or other vessel.

Full definition of stern

Questions about stern in a sentence

How do you use stern in a sentence?
Stern is used as an adjective, noun and verb. For example: “The remark earned me a stern rebuke.”
What is a short sentence with stern?
“A stern voice boomed over the loudspeaker.”
What does stern mean?
Stern means having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stern (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 stern in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/stern. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.