{
    "term": "stark",
    "partOfSpeech": "adjective",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "unpleasant; real, and impossible to avoid",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The author paints a stark picture of life in a prison camp."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The government faced a stark choice between civil war and martial law."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The remains of the building stand as a stark reminder of the fire."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He now faces the **stark reality** of life in prison."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The stark truth is that there is not enough money left."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The stark fact is that even with more time, we still couldn’t raise enough money."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "bleak"
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "very different from something in a way that is easy to see",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "stark differences"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Social divisions in the city are stark."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The good weather was **in stark contrast to** the storms of previous weeks."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "clear"
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "looking severe and without any colour or decoration",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I think white would be too stark for the bedroom."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The hills stood stark against the winter sky."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The corridors were stark and uncarpeted."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The décor was rather stark for my taste."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "complete and total",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The children watched in stark terror."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "utter"
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/stɑːk/",
                "audio": "st/stark/stark__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/stɑːrk/",
                "audio": "st/stark/stark__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Old English stearc ‘unyielding, severe’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch sterk and German stark ‘strong’."
}