Meaning & use
starkly
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Meanings
adverbnot comparable
In a way that makes a difference or contrast extremely clear and impossible to miss.
Grammar: Typically sits before words like different, contrasting or opposed: starkly different.
Patterns
- starkly different
- contrast starkly with something
The two brothers have starkly different views on money.
The wealth of the city centre contrasts starkly with the poverty nearby.
Her calm tone stood out starkly against the shouting.
adverbnot comparable
In a bare, plain or severe way, with little decoration, comfort or softness.
Grammar: Often modifies a verb or participle describing appearance: starkly lit, starkly furnished.
Patterns
- starkly lit
- starkly furnished
The room was starkly furnished, with only a bed and a chair.
The cliffs rose starkly out of the flat plain.
The hospital corridor was starkly lit by white lights.
adverbnot comparable
In a direct and honest manner that does not soften unpleasant facts.
Grammar: Used with verbs of saying or showing: starkly put, starkly exposed.
Patterns
- put it starkly
- starkly honest
The report starkly warned that the river could dry up.
To put it starkly, we cannot afford this plan.
The documentary starkly exposed how workers were treated.
Common combinations
- starkly different
- Life in the city is starkly different from life on the farm.
- contrast starkly
- The calm morning contrasted starkly with the previous night.
- starkly illustrate
- The figures starkly illustrate the scale of the problem.
- starkly apparent
- The gap between rich and poor is starkly apparent here.
- starkly beautiful
- The salt flats are starkly beautiful at dawn.
- stand out starkly
- The black trees stand out starkly against the snow.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sharply
- Sharply is more general and also describes sudden movements or changes, whereas starkly focuses on how obvious a difference is.
- glaringly
- Glaringly suggests something is so obvious it is almost uncomfortable, often a fault, while starkly is neutral about whether the difference is bad.
- plainly
- Plainly means clearly and simply, without the harsh, severe edge that starkly implies.
- bleakly
- Bleakly adds a sense of gloom and hopelessness that starkly does not necessarily carry.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: starkly or sparsely?
starkly vs sparsely
Sparsely means thinly or in small numbers (sparsely populated), whereas starkly means in a bare or very obvious way.
Practice
The two reports reached ___ different conclusions about the cause of the fire.
Choose one answer.
Starkly emphasizes that a difference is impossible to miss. Slightly, vaguely and barely suggest the opposite, a small or unclear difference.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “starkly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.