| English noun: sternness | 
| 1. | sternness (attribute) the quality (as of scenery) being grim and gloomy and forbidding | 
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 | Samples | The sternness of his surroundings made him uncomfortable. 
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 | Broader (hypernym) | asperity, grimness, hardship, rigor, rigorousness, rigour, rigourousness, severeness, severity | 
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| 2. | sternness (attribute) uncompromising resolution | 
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 | Synonyms | strictness | 
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 | Broader (hypernym) | restrictiveness, unpermissiveness | 
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 | Narrower (hyponym) | hardness, harshness, inclemency, Puritanism, rigor, rigorousness, rigour, rigourousness, severeness, severity, stiffness | 
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