stern

Doechii framed her raucous Sunday night set as a stern classroom lecture on the craft of rapping.

She’s adopted a motherly expression—stern eyes, tight lips, and a disapproving frown.

The sight of a stern judge demanding a book from him had been the stuff of his nightmares since childhood.

Even the sternest teachers and the brash older girls with whom you hardly dared to speak smiled at you in a special, knowing way your whole birthday long.

She gave a cursory glance to the children—and then a second, far sterner look.