sternness
noun
sternness is spelled S-T-E-R-N-N-E-S-S: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 30 million words in written English, the 165,739th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sternness means “The state or quality of being stern” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sternness is sternnesses.
How many letters and syllables are in sternness?
| Letters | 9: S-T-E-R-N-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 30 million words; the 165,739th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is sternness?
Sternness appears about once in every 30 million words in written English, the 165,739th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sternness?
Sternness has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-sternness.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sternness
- sternnesses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sternness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state or quality of being stern.
- 2
The result or product of being stern.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sternness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense state or quality of being stern:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sternness come from?
From stern + -ness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).