What is "sternest"

Stern \Stern\, a. [Compar. Sterner; superl. Sternest.] [OE. sterne, sturne, AS. styrne; cf. D. stuurish stern, Sw. stursk refractory. [root]166.] Having a certain hardness or severity of nature, manner, or aspect; hard; severe; rigid; rigorous; austere; fixed; unchanging; unrelenting; hence, serious; resolute; harsh; as, a sternresolve; a stern necessity; a stern heart; a stern gaze; a stern decree.

The sterne wind so loud gan to rout.
--Chaucer.

I would outstare the sternest eyes that look.
--Shak.

When that the poor have cried, C[ae]sar hath wept; Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
--Shak.

Stern as tutors, and as uncles hard.
--Dryden.

These barren rocks, your stern inheritance.
--Wordsworth.

Syn: Gloomy; sullen; forbidding; strict; unkind; hard-hearted; unfeeling; cruel; pitiless.

a. (en-superlative of: stern)