noun. The quality or character of being stern.

noun. Synonyms See stern, adjective

noun. The quality or state of being stern.

noun. The state or quality of being stern.

noun. The result or product of being stern.

noun. uncompromising resolution

noun. the quality (as of scenery) being grim and gloomy and forbidding

"a deep impression on the beholder; there must be a great force of will and withholding of resources, giving a sense of depth below depth, which we call sternness; or else there must be that purity, flowing as from an inexhaustible fountain through every lineament, which drives far off or converts all baser natures."

asperity  grimness  hardship  rigor  rigorousness  

furnace  

asperity  austerity  calmness  coldness  exasperation