Definition of STARK

stark

Adjective Satellite

  • devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment
    • "facing the stark reality of the deadline"
  • severely simple
    • "a stark interior"
  • complete or extreme
    • "stark poverty"
    • "a stark contrast"
  • without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers
    • "stark staring mad"
  • providing no shelter or sustenance
    • "a stark landscape"

Adverb

  • completely
    • "stark mad"
    • "mouth stark open"

Adj

  • Hard, firm; obdurate.
  • Severe; violent; fierce (now usually in describing the weather).
  • Strong; vigorous; powerful.
  • Stiff, rigid.
  • Plain in appearance; barren, desolate.
  • Naked.
  • Complete, absolute, full.

Adv

  • Starkly; entirely, absolutely.

Verb

  • To stiffen.

Adjective

  • Severe or bare in appearance; uncompromising or absolute.

Examples

  • A flower was growing, in stark contrast, out of the sidewalk.
  • He's gone stark, staring mad.
  • I picked my way forlornly through the stark, sharp rocks.
  • I screamed in stark terror.
  • She was just standing there, stark naked.
  • The stark reality of the Scrabble board was that he had only vowels left.

Origin / Etymology

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.

Scrabble Score: 9

stark: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
stark: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
stark: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 9

stark: valid Words With Friends Word