Oryx-and-Crake (oryx_and_crake) wrote in linguaphiles,
Oryx-and-Crake
oryx_and_crake
linguaphiles

'Stem' as an adjective

Dear linguaphiles,

I have come across a sentence that puzzled me. It describes someone who has grown up in a rich family and led a protected life: "Jocelyn had been insulated in some ways, left stem and innocent." I have never seen 'stem' as an adjective before. It may be a typo and the real word may be 'stern' which makes slightly more sense in the context, but still not a lot. Any ideas?
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