Antonyms for starkness
| Grammar : Noun |
| Spell : stahrk |
| Phonetic Transcription : stɑrk |
Definition of starkness
Origin :- Old English stearc "stiff, strong" (related to starian "to stare"), from Proto-Germanic *starkaz (cf. Old Norse sterkr, Old Frisian sterk, Middle Dutch starc, Old High German starah, German stark, Gothic *starks), from PIE root *ster- "stiff, rigid" (see stare).
- Meaning "utter, sheer, complete" first recorded c.1400, perhaps from influence of common phrase stark dead (late 14c.), with stark mistaken as an intensive adjective. Sense of "bare, barren" is from 1833. Stark naked (1520s) is from Middle English start naked (early 13c.), from Old English steort "tail, rump." Hence British slang starkers "naked" (1923).
- As in austerity : noun grimness, barrenness
- As in bareness : noun state of being unclothed
- It is spring, and the woods in the distance are losing their starkness.
- Extract from : « Seductio Ad Absurdum » by Emily Hahn
- Along that hot road the spectre of Zurich pursued me, in all its starkness.
- Extract from : « Alone » by Norman Douglas
- Since I left my father's house I have felt the starkness of strangers, and now—now I can endure it no longer.
- Extract from : « The Ward of King Canute » by Ottilie A. Liljencrantz
- That strange feeling of starkness never belonged to a human body soft with the pulse of life.
- Extract from : « The Maid of the Whispering Hills » by Vingie E. Roe
- He was very gentle with man and beast, but he dreaded the starkness of disillusion cropping through again.
- Extract from : « The Rainbow » by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
Synonyms for starkness
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019