Word.ws English Dictionary

sternliest

sternliest is the superlative form of sternly.

Meaning of sternly

Adverb

sternly (comparative more sternly or (rare, poetic) sternlier, superlative most sternly or (rare, poetic) sternliest)

  1. In a stern manner.
    • It was a historic night at Wembley Stadium that saw the European champions sternly tested by Copa America winners Brazil, but ended with the familiar sight of captain Leah Williamson lifting a trophy.2023 April 6, Emma Sanders, “Women's Finalissima:England beat Brazil in dramatic shhotout”, in BBC Sport

Questions about sternliest

What is sternliest the superlative form of?
Sternliest is the superlative form of sternly.

Words near sternliest in the dictionary

  1. sternites
  2. sternitic
  3. sternity
  4. sternless
  5. sternlier
  6. sternliest
  7. sternly
  8. sternman
  9. sternmen
  10. sternmost
  11. sternness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sternliest (page history and authors); sternly (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “sternliest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sternliest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.