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stark

1. Stiff; rigid. Whose senses all were straight benumbed and stark. (Spenser) His heart gan wax as stark as marble stone. (Spenser) Many a nobleman lies stark and stiff under the hoofs of vaunting enemies. (Shak) The north is not so stark and cold. (B. Jonson)

2. Complete; absolute; full; perfect; entire. Consider the stark security The common wealth is in now. (B. Jonson)

3. Strong; vigorous; powerful. A stark, moss-trooping Scot. (Sir W. Scott) Stark beer, boy, stout and strong beer. (Beau. & Fl)

4. Severe; violent; fierce. In starke stours.

5. Mere; sheer; gross; entire; downright. He pronounces the citation stark nonsense. (Collier) Rhetoric is very good or stark naught; there's no medium in rhetoric. (Selden)

Origin: OE. Stark stiff, strong, AS. Stearc; akin to OS. Starc strong, D. Sterk, OHG. Starc, starah, G. & Sw. Stark, Dan. Staerk, Icel. Sterkr, Goth. Gastaorknan to become dried up, Lith. Stregti to stiffen, to freeze.