bare
1 Americanadjective
-
barer,
comparative
-
barest
superlative
-
without covering or clothing; naked; nude.
bare legs.
- Synonyms:
- undressed
-
without the usual furnishings, contents, etc..
bare walls.
-
open to view; unconcealed; undisguised.
his bare dislike of neckties.
-
unadorned; bald; plain.
the bare facts.
-
(of cloth) napless or threadbare.
-
scarcely or just sufficient; mere.
the bare necessities of life.
-
Obsolete. with the head uncovered; bareheaded.
verb (used with object)
verb
adjective
-
unclothed; exposed: used esp of a part of the body
-
without the natural, conventional, or usual covering or clothing
a bare tree
-
lacking appropriate furnishings, etc
a bare room
-
unembellished; simple
the bare facts
-
(prenomial) just sufficient; mere
he earned the bare minimum
-
without a weapon or tool
verb
verb
Usage
What else does bare mean? Bare is UK slang for very or lots of.
Synonym Usage
Bare, stark, barren share the sense of lack or absence of something that might be expected. Bare, the least powerful in connotation of the three, means lack of expected or usual coverings, furnishings, or embellishments: bare floor, feet, head. Stark implies extreme severity or desolation and resultant bleakness or dreariness: a stark landscape; a stark, emotionless countenance. Barren carries a strong sense of sterility and oppressive dullness: barren fields; a barren relationship. See mere 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of bare
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English bær; cognate with Old Frisian ber, Dutch baar, Old Saxon, Old High German, German bar, Old Norse berr; akin to Armenian bok “naked,” Lithuanian bãsas, Russian bosóĭ “barefoot”
Explanation
When you kick off your shoes to walk on the beach, you are enjoying the feeling of your bare feet in the warm sand. The adjective bare describes something or someone that is naked or unclothed. Bare can be used in many different ways: to describe the inside of your nearly-empty refrigerator, an uncarpeted floor, or your unadorned, sparsely decorated bedroom. The word bare can also be used as a verb meaning "to uncover or expose." When you reveal deep truths about yourself to another person — imagine confessing your passion for stamp collecting to a girl you like — you "bare your soul."
Vocabulary lists containing bare
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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"Mother to Son"
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Commonly Confused Words, List 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It appears that most of those terrestrial planets don't -- they're just bare rock.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
No one sits staring mournfully at the bare lacquered table.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
The wars in Iran and Ukraine have laid bare the fragility of energy supply chains, and Greece is positioning itself to become a key hub in southeastern Europe for natural gas transport.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
“I call it accountability, and long overdue, and frankly, the bare minimum.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
She swings her legs off the bed, slaps her bare feet on the wood floor.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
"All around me staff are leaving, staff are crying... many people are already voting with their feet and leaving. But of course that just strips the service even barer."
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2022
A soul barer and a tireless collaborator, Nate Dogg was the preeminent rap vocalist of the 1990s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2022
A glacier can provide some protection, preserving piles of snow year-round that can even be deployed on barer ski pistes elsewhere on the slopes.
From Reuters ● Aug. 27, 2021
These people, in other words, were also nostalgic for earlier times; we aren’t the first generation to wish our children’s playroom shelves were barer.
From Slate ● Dec. 24, 2018
Fair′y-rings, -cir′cles, spots or circles in pastures, either barer than the rest of the field, or greener—due to the outwardly spreading growth of various fungi.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
If this familiar-looking advice seems like the barest minimum in modern cybersecurity hygiene, that’s because it is.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
Pearl diving often relied on the barest necessities: a noseclip, leather finger covers and a basket to gather oysters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
"We have been given the barest of details and whilst we are supporting the families through this we are urgently seeking a meeting with the appropriate authorities to understand the situation before commenting further."
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Greenspan exhibited a deft touch with financial markets, saying the barest minimum in his statements but seemingly always conveying what traders wanted to hear.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
Kaz spared the wounded man the barest glance.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
The pages capture the inner thoughts of someone who found himself at the center of history, as if Oppenheimer grabbed a pen and bared his soul during the Manhattan Project.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
"I bared my life, I went through so much, I dedicated myself to sobriety and God told me that I would be rewarded."
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2025
All conveyed with a smile: chin down, eyes up, teeth bared.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2024
Many of the women wept as Francis washed their feet, gently pouring water over one bared foot and patting it dry with a small towel.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 28, 2024
He bared his bruised knuckles at me, a startling contrast to the elegant finery of his silver rings.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Dog owners are baring their teeth on social media after the European Union's top court ruled that pets are not passengers just baggage if they get lost in transit.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025
By baring these women's realities - and their romantic desires - Latey cemented its place as the "content of its times", producer Metasebia Yoseph tells the BBC.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2025
Murray wasn’t worried about baring his abs for the film — it was the dancing that terrified him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2024
The joy of reaching the final, and in the manner he did it, was shown by Norrie baring his teeth and shouting his pleasure towards his team.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2024
The cuco stood up and growled, baring its sharp teeth at Seven.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
