Preposition: against

• landscape: In the early phase the barrow had bare chalk sides, and would have stood stark against the landscape.

Modifies a noun

• contrast: In stark contrast to its coverage of the Mayor the media has not focused very much on the workings of the assembly?

• reminder: The minister's story was a stark reminder of how near we may already have come to disaster.

• warning: Rail bosses are today issuing a stark warning to parents, urging them to alert their children to the dangers of playing near railways.

• reality: The stark reality is a drop in pupil numbers.

• simplicity: While the studio resembles the mighty ' School with its stark blue simplicity, the ubiquitous fishing boat still manages to make an appearance.

• realism: The stark realism of Cathy Come Home led to angry calls for action to prevent such circumstances.

Modifying Another Word

• rather: The outside of the building is in rather stark contrast to the modernist interior.

• somewhat: The somewhat stark edifice of the Changi Prison Museum.

• equally: The position was equally stark in their 23 League defeats, where the position was 16 for but 64 against.

• pretty: The historical evidence in broadcasting is also pretty stark.

• quite: The bottom line is quite stark: without more help from central government we simply cannot afford to run services at their present level.

• too: She joined a too stark the able to look game of probabilities.

Used with adjective complement

• stand: Its formidable structure stood stark against the dull heavens, the street lamps throwing a weak light about its feet.

• become: By the early hours of yesterday morning it became stark that the Labor Party had also been buried there.

• look: When this is converted into state pension expenditure as % of GDP the looming problem of unfunded pensions looks stark indeed.

• go: If you've never seen a magician go stark raving mad over a fairly short period, then it can be instructive.

• seem: The gap between rich and poor seemed even starker than here in Britain.

• appear: People in cities can sometimes forget that the class divide in places like the Highlands can appear even more stark than in the cities.