frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

stern adj. 1 austere, severe, strict, stringent, demanding, critical,
rigid, rigorous, flinty, steely, authoritarian, uncompromising,
hard, tough, inflexible, firm, immovable, unmoved, unrelenting,
unremitting, steadfast, resolute, determined, unyielding,
adamant, adamantine, obdurate, hard-hearted, stony,
stony-hearted, unsparing, unforgiving, unsympathetic, harsh:
Discipline in the French Foreign Legion is said to be quite
stern. 2 serious, frowning, grim, forbidding, grave, gloomy,
dour, sombre, saturnine, lugubrious, gruff, taciturn, crabby,
crabbed, crusty, churlish, sour: Beneath that terribly stern
exterior he really is a pussy-cat.
stew n. 1 gallimaufry, goulash, salmagundi, hash, mess, olla
podrida, olio, mixture, mishmash, Brit hotchpotch, US also
hodgepodge: His book is a stew of many different opinions, none
of them his own. 2 state of excitement or alarm or anxiety,
dither, pother, bother, lather, sweat, Colloq tizzy, state: She
really worked herself up into a stew over the boy Paula is
engaged to.
--v. 3 simmer, seethe, agonize, fret, dither, chafe, burn,
smoulder, Colloq get steamed (up) (over or about), work
(oneself) (up) into a sweat or lather or state (over): Paula's
father is all stewed up over her leaving school to get married.
stick° v. 1 pierce, thrust, stab, transfix, pin, spike, impale, spear,
spit, run through, poke, gore, jab, prick, puncture, punch,
penetrate, drill, bore, riddle, perforate: He stuck the wild
boar with his spear. 2 put, drop, place, deposit, Colloq shove,
plonk, plunk, plop: Stick another ice cube in my drink, would
you? 3 put, poke, push, thrust, prod, dig; insert: She stuck
her head out of the window to get a better look. Stop sticking
your finger in my ribs! 4 attach, fasten, affix, fix, nail, pin,
tack; glue, cement, paste, gum, weld, solder, bind, tie, tape,
wire; bond, melt, fuse, unite, join: What shall we used to
stick the poster to the wall? How can I stick the pieces of the
vase together again? 5 Often, stick together. cohere, adhere,
stay or remain or cleave or cling together: I cannot make these
parts stick together. 6 hold, last, endure, go through, be
upheld, be or remain effective, remain attached: The prosecutor
was unable to make a charge of murder stick. 7 linger, dwell,
remain (fixed), continue, stay; be or become lodged or stopped
or fixed or fast or immovable or stationary, be or become