Shak.
When that the poor have cried, Cæsar hath wept; Ambition should be
made of sterner stuff.
Shak.
Stern as tutors, and as uncles hard.
Dryden.
These barren rocks, your stern inheritance.
Wordsworth.
Syn. -- Gloomy; sullen; forbidding; strict; unkind; hard- hearted;
unfeeling; cruel; pitiless.
Stern, n. [Icel. stjrn a steering, or a doubtful AS. steórn.
√166. See Steer, v. t.] 1. The helm or tiller of a vessel or
boat; also, the rudder. [Obs.] Chaucer.
2. (Naut.) The after or rear end of a ship or other vessel, or of a
boat; the part opposite to the stem, or prow.