STARK
What does "STARK" mean?
Severe or bare in appearance; complete and unmistakable, as in a sharp contrast.
Meanings
- Severe, bare, or desolate in appearance. The stark landscape stretched empty to the horizon.
- Sharply or clearly evident; unmistakable. There is a stark contrast between their two approaches.
- Complete; utter (especially in 'stark naked' or 'stark raving mad'). He stood there stark naked, wondering where his clothes had gone.
- Completely; utterly. She was stark raving mad by the end of the trip. informal
Did you know?
- 'Stark naked' is a folk-corrected phrase: it began as Middle English 'start-naked', from 'steort' meaning tail, literally 'naked to the tail' - the 'stark' came later when speakers re-explained the unfamiliar 'start'.
Word origin
From Old English 'stearc', meaning stiff, strong, or severe, from Proto-Germanic 'starkaz'; 'stark naked' actually derives from 'steort' (tail), originally 'start-naked', meaning naked to the tail.
Remember it
STARK shares a sound with STARE: a stark contrast makes you stop and stare.
A little poem
No softness here, no green to break the white-
just one black tree, and miles of honest light.
couplet
What it teaches
Clarity is often stark: the truth rarely arrives with anything to soften it.
Quick facts
What does STARK mean?
Severe or bare in appearance; complete and unmistakable, as in a sharp contrast.
Is STARK a valid word?
Yes — STARK is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is STARK?
STARK has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does STARK come from?
From Old English 'stearc', meaning stiff, strong, or severe, from Proto-Germanic 'starkaz'; 'stark naked' actually derives from 'steort' (tail), originally 'start-naked', meaning naked to the tail.
What can STARK teach us?
Clarity is often stark: the truth rarely arrives with anything to soften it.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.