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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

The quality or state of being stern.

Noun.

Severity of look; a look of austerity, rigor or severe authority; as the sternness of ones presence.

Severity or harshness of manner; rigor.

I have sternness in my soul enough to hear of soldiers work.

sternness ‎(countable and uncountable, plural sternnesses)

(uncountable) The state or quality of being stern.
- 2012, July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
  There was the sternness of an old-fashioned Tour patron in his rebuke to the young Frenchman Pierre Rolland, the only one to ride away from the peloton and seize the opportunity for a lone attack before being absorbed back into the bunch, where he was received with coolness.
(countable) The result or product of being stern.