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stern - 20 thesaurus results
| Main Entry: | stern |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | serious, authoritarian |
| Synonyms: | ascetic, astringent, austere, bitter, bullheaded, cruel, disciplinary, dyed-in-the-wool*, flinty, forbidding, frowning, grim, hard, hard-boiled*, hard-core*, hard-line*, hard-nosed, hardheaded*, harsh, implacable, inexorable, inflexible, mulish, relentless, rigid, rigorous, rough, severe, strict, stubborn, tough, unrelenting, unsparing, unyielding, by the book, hang-tough, hard-shell, mortified, steely, stiff-necked* |
| Antonyms: | cheerful, funny, lenient, light, tolerant, smiling |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | back |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | end part |
| Synonyms: | aft, backside, extremity, posterior, rear, reverse, stern, tail, back end, far end, hindpart, hindquarters, tail end, tailpiece |
| Antonyms: | front |
| Main Entry: | dictatorial |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | tyrannical, authoritarian |
| Synonyms: | absolute, arbitrary, arrogant, autocratic, bossy, clamorous, despotic, doctrinaire, dogmatic, domineering, egotistic, firm, haughty, imperative, imperious, oppressive, overbearing, peremptory, pompous, proud, stern, totalitarian, unlimited, unrestricted, crack-the-whip, dictative, iron-handed, throwing weight around |
| Antonyms: | democratic, docile, passive |
| Main Entry: | exacting |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | demanding |
| Synonyms: | burdensome, careful, critical, difficult, exigent, finicky, fussy, grievous, hard, harsh, hypercritical, imperious, onerous, oppressive, painstaking, particular, persnickety, picky, precise, rigid, rigorous, severe, stern, strict, stringent, taxing, tough, trying, unsparing, weighty, by the book, nit-picking |
| Antonyms: | giving, lending |
| Main Entry: | grim |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hopeless, horrible in manner, appearance |
| Synonyms: | austere, barbarous, bleak, cantankerous, churlish, cruel, crusty, dogged, ferocious, fierce, forbidding, foreboding, formidable, frightful, funereal, ghastly, gloomy, glum, grisly, grouchy, gruesome, grumpy*, harsh, hideous, implacable, inexorable, intractable, merciless, morose, ominous, relentless, resolute, ruthless, severe, shocking, sinister, somber, sour, stern, stubborn, sulky, sullen, surly, terrible, truculent, unrelenting, unyielding, crabbed, glowering, horrid, scowling, splenetic |
| Antonyms: | bright, cheerful, happy, hopeful, joyful, sunny |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | hard-boiled |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | tough |
| Synonyms: | callous, firm, hard-line*, hard-nosed, headstrong, inflexible, obdurate, obstinate, rough, stern, strict, unbending, unfeeling, hard as nails, hard-shelled |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | hard-line |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | firm |
| Synonyms: | adamant, hard-boiled*, hard-core, hard-nosed, inflexible, militant, stand pat*, staunch, steadfast, stern, stiff, strict, unbending, uncompromising, unyielding, ungiving |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | prudish |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | shy and strict in behavior |
| Synonyms: | Victorian*, affected, artificial, austere, bigoted, conventional, demure, fastidious, finicky*, genteel, illiberal, mincing, narrow, narrow-minded, precise, pretentious, priggish*, prim, prissy*, proper, puritanical, rigid, rigorous, scrupulous, severe, square, squeamish*, starchy*, stern, stiff*, stilted, straitlaced, stuffy, uptight*, offish, overexact, overmodest, overnice, simpering |
| Notes: | prudent means careful and sensible or marked by sound judgment, while prudish means excessively proper or modest in speech, conduct or dress |
| Antonyms: | bold, brave, extroverted, outgoing |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | puritanical |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | proper, straitlaced |
| Synonyms: | austere, conforming, moral, priggish, prim, prissy, prudish, rigid, stern, strict, stuffy, abstinent |
| Main Entry: | rear |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | back, end |
| Synonyms: | aft, after, astern, backward, behind, following, hinder, hindmost, last, posterior, reverse, stern, tail, dorsal, hind, hindermost, mizzen, postern, rearmost, rearward, retral |
| Antonyms: | beginning, front |
| Main Entry: | rear |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | back or end part |
| Synonyms: | back, back door*, backside, behind, bottom, butt, buttocks, end, heel, posterior, rear end, reverse, rump, seat, stern, tail, afterpart, back end, back seat, hind, hind part, hindquarters, postern, rear guard, rearward, tail end, tailpiece, tush |
| Antonyms: | beginning, front |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | rigid |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | stiff, strict, severe |
| Synonyms: | adamant, austere, bullheaded, changeless, definite, determined, exact, firm, fixed, hard, hard-line*, harsh, inelastic, inexorable, inflexible, intransigent, invariable, obdurate, rigorous, set, single-minded, solid, static, stern, strait-laced*, stringent, unalterable, unbending, unbreakable, unchanging, uncompromising, unmoving, unrelenting, unyielding, adamantine, chiseled, dead set, incompliant, locked in, set in stone, tough nut to crack, undeviating, unpermissive |
| Antonyms: | bending, flexible, lenient, limber, pliable, pliant, soft, yielding |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | rigorous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | severe; exact |
| Synonyms: | accurate, ascetic, austere, bitter, brutal, burdensome, correct, definite, dogmatic, exacting, hard, harsh, inclement, inflexible, intemperate, meticulous, nice, onerous, oppressive, precise, proper, punctilious, right, rigid, rugged, scrupulous, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, uncompromising, ironhanded, unpermissive |
| Antonyms: | easy, lax, lenient, loose, mild, easy-going |
| Main Entry: | ruthless |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | mean, heartless |
| Synonyms: | adamant, barbarous, brutal, callous, cold, cold-blooded, cruel, cutthroat, dog-eat-dog*, feral, ferocious, fierce, grim, hard, harsh, implacable, inexorable, inhuman, killer, malevolent, merciless, mortal, obdurate, pitiless, relentless, remorseless, revengeful, sadistic, savage, severe, stern, stony, surly, unfeeling, unforgiving, unmerciful, unrelenting, unsympathetic, unyielding, vicious, vindictive, hard-hearted, ironfisted, rancorous, unappeasable, without pity |
| Antonyms: | compassionate, considerate, gentle, giving, kind, nice, sympathetic |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | unrelenting |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | merciless |
| Synonyms: | bound, bound and determined, ceaseless, constant, continual, continuous, cruel, endless, grim, implacable, incessant, inexorable, intransigent, mortal, perpetual, persistent, pitiless, relentless, remorseless, rigid, ruthless, set, steady, stern, stiff, tenacious, tough, unbending, unbroken, unflinching, unsparing, unwavering, unyielding, brick-wall, dead set on, hanging tough, hard-headed, iron-fisted, stiff-necked*, unabated, unremitting |
| Antonyms: | compassionate, flexible, merciful, sympathetic, relenting |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | rear end |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | hind part |
| Synonyms: | behind, posterior, stern, back side, breech, hind end, tail end |
| Main Entry: | austere |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | severe in manner |
| Synonyms: | ascetic, astringent, cold, earnest, exacting, forbidding, formal, grave, grim, hard, harsh, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, rigid, rigorous, serious, sober, solemn, somber, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, unfeeling, unrelenting |
| Antonyms: | bland, calm, gentle, meek, mild |
| Main Entry: | serious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | somber, humorless |
| Synonyms: | austere, bound, bound and determined, businesslike, contemplative, deadpan*, deliberate, determined, downbeat*, earnest, funereal, genuine, grave, grim, honest, intent, meditative, no-nonsense*, pensive, reflective, resolute, sedate, set, severe, sincere, sober, solemn, staid, steady, stern, thoughtful, weighty, cold sober, go for broke, long-faced, pokerfaced, resolved, unhumorous, unsmiling |
| Antonyms: | flippant, funny, happy, light |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | severe |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | uncompromising, stern |
| Synonyms: | astringent, austere, biting, caustic, close, cold, cruel, cutting, dour, earnest, firm, flinty, forbidding, grave, grim, hard, hard-nosed, harsh, inconsiderate, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, oppressive, peremptory, pitiless, relentless, resolute, rigid, satirical, scathing, serious, sober, stern, stiff*, strait-laced*, strict, tight-lipped*, unalterable, unbending, unchanging, unfeeling, unrelenting, unsparing, disapproving, iron-handed, resolved, unsmiling |
| Antonyms: | amenable, friendly, willing, compromising, easy-going |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | solemn |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | quiet, serious |
| Synonyms: | austere, deliberate, dignified, downbeat, earnest, funereal, glum, grave, heavy, intense, matter of life and death*, moody, no-nonsense*, pensive, portentous, reflective, sedate, sober, somber, staid, stern, thoughtful, weighty, brooding, cold sober, no fooling |
| Antonyms: | frivolous, funny, light, laughing |
* = informal/non-formal usage
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.

