starkness
nounUK /ˈstɑːknəs/ · US /ˈstɑɹknəs/
Etymology From Middle English starknes, starkenes, starkenesse, equivalent to stark + -ness.
1
The state or quality of being stark.
- 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 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:
1 more example
- 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
The result or product of being stark.