adjective
definition
Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.
definition
Grim and forbidding in appearance.
Examples of stern in a Sentence
Alex shot her a stern look and she made a face.
Sarah gave him a stern look.
She gave him a stern glare that made him smile.
Carmen set her jaw and challenged them each with a stern look.
He threw a stern look at Katie.
His voice was stern again.
Señor Medena's gaze was stern, but his voice was calm.
Alex looked stern, and when Carmen met his gaze, he looked down at his plate.
She gave him a stern look.
He took something like an oarlock from his pocket and fastened it to the stern of the boat; then with a paddle which worked in this oarlock one of the boys could guide the boat while the other turned the paddle wheels.
She brushed past Cade, giving him a stern look as she left the room.
She answered as Martha giggled, earning a stern look.
He could not be stern with that face.
He paused beside them and turned a stern look on Carmen.
The tall lad was standing in front, flourishing his arm and saying something with a stern look.
His stern gaze turned to Rob.
This stern, thin, pale face that looks so much older!
Ashley looked ready to refuse, but Jessi pushed her with a stern glare.
Sarah's tone had an anxious quality, and Giddon's expression was much too stern for the situation.
She gave him what she hoped was a stern look.
Lemarrois had just arrived at a gallop with Bonaparte's stern letter, and Murat, humiliated and anxious to expiate his fault, had at once moved his forces to attack the center and outflank both the Russian wings, hoping before evening and before the arrival of the Emperor to crush the contemptible detachment that stood before him.
She met his stern gaze archly.
Sarah gave Giddon a stern look and then returned her attention to Lisa.
After they left, Adrienne gave Brandon a stern look.
The man frowned and gave Yancey a stern look.
Finally he set the cup on the railing and turned to her, his gaze stern.
Alex broke in with a stern response.
He looked down at her, his eyes and face stern.
He sighed again, gripping her shoulders, his gaze stern.
He started to turn and then stopped, his expression turning stern.
The old prince stopped writing and, as if not understanding, fixed his stern eyes on his son.
And if anyone came into his room at such moments he was particularly cold, stern, and above all unpleasantly logical.
I queued my way past three minions before the stern voice growled, Reagan' in my ear.
Running a hand through his hair in a way that Carmen had grown to recognize as a nervous habit, he addressed Lori in a tone that was both stern and conversational.
The door flew open before she could knock to reveal a stern woman in a monk's brown robes.
Next to the officer was a stern looking man in a suit and tie, arms crossed, staring straight ahead.
His gaze was stern.
His gaze was back on her, intent and stern.
His expression became stern.
The stern, shrewd, and penetrating expression of that look struck Pierre.
The more emotional and ingratiating the expression of Natasha's face became, the more serious and stern grew Sonya's.
Natasha, pale and stern, was sitting beside Marya Dmitrievna, and her eyes, glittering feverishly, met Pierre with a questioning look the moment he entered.
Balashev noticed that his left leg was quivering faster than before and his face seemed petrified in its stern expression.
On seeing the count the major- domo made a significant and stern gesture to them both to go away.
Looking at his cold face, as he sat like a stern schoolmaster who was prepared to wait awhile for an answer, Pierre felt that every instant of delay might cost him his life; but he did not know what to say.
His voice was stern.
Louis, who soon became the most powerful prince in southern Germany, was called "the Stern," because in a fit of jealousy he caused his first wife, Maria of Brabant, to be executed in '256.
The stern government of Nicholas was, however, so far effective that Poland remained quiescent during the Crimean War, in which many Polish soldiers fought in the Russian army.
His sympathetic nature was influenced by indignation against the brutal methods adopted towards prisoners, especially political prisoners, and by the stern measures which the government of the tsar felt compelled to adopt in order to repress the revolutionary movement.
In 1755 the British took the stern step of deporting the Acadian French from Nova Scotia.