Associations to the word «Sternness»

Wiktionary

STERNNESS, noun. (uncountable) The state or quality of being stern.
STERNNESS, noun. (countable) The result or product of being stern.

Dictionary definition

STERNNESS, noun. The quality (as of scenery) being grim and gloomy and forbidding; "the sternness of his surroundings made him uncomfortable".
STERNNESS, noun. Uncompromising resolution.

Wise words

Words are always getting conventionalized to some secondary meaning. It is one of the works of poetry to take the truants in custody and bring them back to their right senses.
William Butler Yeats