as in harshly
in a manner so as to cause loss or suffering
sternly reprimanded the prosecuting attorney for making comments that never should have been heard by the jury
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Recent Examples of sternly
This folly—which Iran has sternly warned against—is immoral, unjustified, and unlawful.
—
Amira El-Fekki, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025
Sulmona gave the Catholic world a pope, Innocent VII in the 15th century, but Piazza XX Settembre is the location of Sulmona’s foremost historical figure, the greatest of all Roman poets, Ovid, whose bronze statue stands sternly atop a pedestal.
—John Mariani, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sternly
Adverb
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In a press conference later in the day, Mayor Frey, 44, harshly condemned the actions of ICE in his city and pushed back against the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) claims that the agent involved in the fatal shooting acted in self defense.—
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One of his non-Jewish primary opponents, Palm Coast City Council member Charles Gambaro, harshly criticized Fine’s Gaza remarks and declared that Gambaro, too, would seek AIPAC’s endorsement.—
Adverb
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In the ninth century, a severely disabled woman was buried, her feet bound, in an annex of the church in Elsau, outside Zürich.—
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The time is never right to severely chop off your crape myrtle.—
Adverb
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The second planet from the sun has a completely inhospitable surface, with temperatures reaching 863 degrees Fahrenheit (462 degrees Celsius) and a crushing pressure underneath an oppressively thick atmosphere.—
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On an oppressively hot Friday in July, plumes of smoke curl up from Arnolds Field.—
Cite this Entry
“Sternly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sternly. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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