stern vs weak

stern

adj
  • Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner. 

  • Grim and forbidding in appearance. 

noun
  • A bird, the black tern. 

  • The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog. 

  • The hinder part of anything. 

  • The post of management or direction. 

  • The rear part or after end of a ship or vessel. 

verb
  • To propel or move backward or stern-first in the water. 

weak

adj
  • Lacking in force (usually strength) or ability. 

  • That does not ionize completely into anions and cations in a solution. 

  • Not having power to convince; not supported by force of reason or truth; unsustained. 

  • Lacking in vigour or expression. 

  • Unable to sustain a great weight, pressure, or strain. 

  • Definite in meaning, often used with a definite article or similar word. 

  • One of the four fundamental forces associated with nuclear decay. 

  • Dilute, lacking in taste or potency. 

  • Showing less distinct grammatical endings. 

  • Having a narrow range of logical consequences; narrowly applicable. (Often contrasted with a strong statement which implies it.) 

  • Not prevalent or effective, or not felt to be prevalent; not potent; feeble. 

  • Tending towards lower prices. 

  • Unable to withstand temptation, urgency, persuasion, etc.; easily impressed, moved, or overcome; accessible; vulnerable. 

  • Bad or uncool. 

  • Regular in inflection, lacking vowel changes and having a past tense with -d- or -t-. 

  • Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or firmness; unwise; hence, foolish. 

  • Lacking contrast. 

How often have the words stern and weak occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )