starkness

From Middle English starknes, starkenes, starkenesse, equivalent to stark +‎ -ness.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈstɑːknəs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈstɑɹknəs/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)knəs
• Hyphenation: stark‧ness

starkness (countable and uncountable, plural starknesses)

1. (uncountable) The state or quality of being stark.
   • 2009, Chika Unigwe, On Black Sisters’ Street, Vintage (2010), page 226:

     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.

   • 2013 February 17, Bob Greene, “America’s ‘Slave Narratives’ should shock us”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     The power of the stories overrides everything else. The quiet starkness of the telling: […]

   • 2020 January 15, Chris Cillizza, “Exhibit 9,172 that global warming is an urgent threat”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     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.

2. (countable) The result or product of being stark.