# stark vs stern

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### stark
*adjective · IPA /stɑɹk/ · frequency rank #7,065*
Hard, firm; obdurate.

### stern
*adjective · IPA /stɜːn/ · frequency rank #8,356*
Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stark-vs-stern