| Main Entry: | stern |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | serious, authoritarian |
Synonyms: |
ascetic, astringent, austere, bitter, bullheaded, by the book, cruel, disciplinary, dyed-in-the-wool, flinty, forbidding, frowning, grim, hang-tough, hard, hard-boiled, hard-core, hard-line, hard-nosed, hard-shell, hardheaded, harsh, implacable, inexorable, inflexible, mortified, mulish, relentless, rigid, rigorous, rough, severe, steely, stiff-necked, strict, stubborn, tough, unrelenting, unsparing, unyielding |
Antonyms: |
cheerful, funny, lenient, light, smiling, tolerant |
| 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: | back |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | end part |
Synonyms: |
aft, back end, backside, extremity, far end, hindpart, hindquarters, posterior, rear, reverse, stern, tail, tail end, tailpiece |
Antonyms: |
front |
| Main Entry: | dictatorial |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | tyrannical, authoritarian |
Synonyms: |
absolute, arbitrary, arrogant, autocratic, bossy, clamorous, crack-the-whip, despotic, dictative, doctrinaire, dogmatic, domineering, egotistic, firm, haughty, imperative, imperious, iron-handed, oppressive, overbearing, peremptory, pompous, proud, stern, throwing weight around, totalitarian, unlimited, unrestricted |
Antonyms: |
democratic, docile, passive |
| Main Entry: | exacting |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | demanding |
Synonyms: |
burdensome, by the book, careful, critical, difficult, exigent, finicky, fussy, grievous, hard, harsh, hypercritical, imperious, nit-picking, onerous, oppressive, painstaking, particular, persnickety, picky, precise, rigid, rigorous, severe, stern, strict, stringent, taxing, tough, trying, unsparing, weighty |
Antonyms: |
giving, lending |
| Main Entry: | extreme |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | beyond reason and convention |
Synonyms: |
absolute, desperate, dire, downright, drastic, egregious, exaggerated, exceptional, excessive, extraordinary, extravagant, fabulous, fanatical, flagrant, gross, harsh, immoderate, improper, imprudent, inordinate, intemperate, irrational, nonsensical, out of proportion, out-and-out, outrageous, overkill, preposterous, rabid, radical, remarkable, rigid, severe, sheer, stern, strict, thorough, unbending, uncommon, uncompromising, unconventional, unreasonable, unseemly, unusual, utter, zealous |
Antonyms: |
mild, moderate |
| Main Entry: | grim |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hopeless, horrible in manner, appearance |
Synonyms: |
austere, barbarous, bleak, cantankerous, churlish, crabbed, cruel, crusty, dogged, ferocious, fierce, forbidding, foreboding, formidable, frightful, funereal, ghastly, gloomy, glowering, glum, grisly, grouchy, gruesome, grumpy*, harsh, hideous, horrid, implacable, inexorable, intractable, merciless, morose, ominous, relentless, resolute, ruthless, scowling, severe, shocking, sinister, somber, sour, splenetic, stern, stubborn, sulky, sullen, surly, terrible, truculent, unrelenting, unyielding |
Antonyms: |
bright, cheerful, happy, hopeful, joyful, sunny |
| Main Entry: | hard |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | cruel, ruthless |
Synonyms: |
acrimonious, angry, antagonistic, austere, bitter, bleak, brutal, callous, cold, cold fish, cold-blooded, dark, disagreeable, distressing, dour, exacting, grievous, grim, hard as nails, hard-boiled, harsh, hostile, inclement, intemperate, intolerable, obdurate, painful, perverse, pitiless, rancorous, resentful, rigorous, rugged, severe, stern, strict, stringent, stubborn, thick-skinned, tough, unfeeling, unjust, unkind, unpleasant, unrelenting, unsparing, unsympathetic, vengeful |
Antonyms: |
merciful, mild, nice, pleasant, sensitive, sympathetic |
| Main Entry: | hard-boiled |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | tough |
Synonyms: |
callous, firm, hard as nails, hard-line, hard-nosed, hard-shelled, headstrong, inflexible, obdurate, obstinate, rough, stern, strict, unbending, unfeeling |
| 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, ungiving, unyielding |