Dictionary

starkness en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈstɑːknəs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈstɑɹknəs/ (General-American)

Etymology

From Middle English starknes, starkenes, starkenesse, equivalent to stark + -ness.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The state or quality of being stark.
   • The power of the stories overrides everything else. The quiet starkness of the telling: […] 2013 February 17, Bob Greene, “America’s ‘Slave Narratives’ should shock us”, in CNN:
   • In the morning the framed photograph of the two of them, hanging on the sitting-room wall, was gone. The patch of wall where it had been hanging a hurtful rectangle of dusty starkness. 2009, Chika Unigwe, On Black Sisters’ Street, Vintage (2010), page 226:
   • The starkness of the studies correlates with the rising number of people – especially Democrats – who see climate change as not just an issue but the issue of our times. 2020 January 15, Chris Cillizza, “Exhibit 9,172 that global warming is an urgent threat”, in CNN:
2. (countable) The result or product of being stark.

Forms