stark

CEFRB2

/stɑɹk/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Very plain, bare, or severe.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Severe; violent; fierce (now usually in describing the weather).

Examples

  • My little brother ran through the living room stark naked.

  • The author paints a stark picture of life in a prison camp.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Strong; vigorous; powerful.

  2. Hard, firm; obdurate.

  3. Stiff, rigid.

More examples

In context

  • You ought to face the stark reality.

  • A flower was growing, in stark contrast, out of the sidewalk.

  • I picked my way forlornly through the stark, sharp rocks.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

After the fire, the once green hills looked blank, with nothing but blackened earth.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English stark, starc, from Old English stearc, starc (“stiff, rigid, unyielding, obstinate, hard, strong, severe, violent”), from Proto-West Germanic *stark, from Proto-Germanic *starkuz (“stiff, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terg- (“rigid, stiff”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian sterc (“strong”), Dutch sterk (“strong”), Low German sterk (“strong”), German stark (“strong”), Danish stærk (“strong”), Swedish stark (“strong”), Norwegian sterk (“strong”), Icelandic sterkur (“strong”). Related to starch. In the phrase stark naked: an alternation of Middle English stert naked, from stert (“tail”), a literal parallel to the modern butt naked.