Word.ws English Dictionary

sternly

Syllables: stern·lyUK/ˈstɜːnli//ˈstɝnli/

sternly adverb: in a stern manner.

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

sternly meaning in Tamil and Telugu

sternly in Tamil

கடுமையாக, கண்டிப்புடன்

sternly in Telugu

sternly
క్రూరముగా krūramugā

Examples of sternly in a sentence

  • An officious Cecaelia rapped the floor of the platform sternly and called the court to order.
  • "Now remember, Candy," my father warned me sternly, "wait till it's quiet to say your lines.
  • She has one more time to bump me,” I remarked sternly.

All 14 example sentences with sternly

Forms of sternly

comparativemore sternly
superlativemost sternly
comparative poetic (rare)sternlier
superlative poetic (rare)sternliest

Origin of sternly

From Middle English sternly, sternely, sterneliche, sturnely, sturneliche, from Old English stirnlīċe, styrnlīċe, stiernlīċe (“harshly; severely; sternly”), equivalent to stern + -ly.

Questions about sternly

What does sternly mean?
Sternly means in a stern manner.
What is sternly in Tamil?
Sternly in Tamil is கடுமையாக, கண்டிப்புடன். See Sternly meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is sternly?
Sternly is an adverb.
How do you pronounce sternly?
Sternly is pronounced /ˈstɝnli/ (US).

Words near sternly in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sternly (page history and authors); sternly (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); క్రూరముగా (Telugu) (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-sternly.ogg.

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