stark

 
Pronunciation: /stɑːk/

adjective

  • 1severe or bare in appearance or outline: the ridge formed a stark silhouette against the sky
  • unpleasantly or sharply clear: his position is in stark contrast to that of Curran the stark reality of life for deprived minorities
  • 2 [attributive] complete; sheer: he came running back in stark terror
  • rare completely naked.
  • 3 archaic or literary stiff, rigid, or incapable of movement: a human body lying stiff and stark by the stream
  • physically strong or powerful: the dragoons were stark fellows

Phrases

stark naked

completely naked.

stark raving (or staring) mad

informal completely crazy: for heaven’s sake Bruce, have you gone stark raving mad?

Derivatives

starkly

adverb
[as submodifier]: the reality is starkly different

starkness

noun

Origin:

Old English stearc 'unyielding, severe', of Germanic origin; related to Dutch sterk and German stark 'strong'