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bald

[bawld]
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adjective
  1. having little or no hair on the scalp: a bald head; a bald person.
  2. destitute of some natural growth or covering: a bald mountain.
  3. lacking detail; bare; plain; unadorned: a bald prose style.
  4. open; undisguised: a bald lie.
  5. Zoology. having white on the head: the bald eagle.
  6. Automotive. (of a tire) having the tread completely worn away.
verb (used without object)
  1. to become bald.
noun
  1. (often initial capital letter) Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. a treeless mountaintop or area near the top: often used as part of a proper name.

Origin of bald

1250–1300; Middle English ball(e)d, equivalent to ball white spot (compare Welsh bal, Greek phaliós having a white spot) + -ed -ed3
Related formsbald·ish, adjectivebald·ly, adverbbald·ness, nounhalf-bald, adjectivesem·i·bald, adjectivesem·i·bald·ly, adverbsem·i·bald·ness, noun
Can be confusedbald balled bawled

Synonyms

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4. bare, barefaced, flagrant, patent, utter, out-and-out, downright, flat-out.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for baldness

Historical Examples

  • Did you ever notice, gentlemen, how lying and baldness go together?

    The Arena

    Various

  • Neeld was surprised at the baldness of the question, but Harry took it as natural.

    Tristram of Blent

    Anthony Hope

  • His baldness struck one immediately, but it did not give him a look of age.

    The Wonder

    J. D. Beresford

  • On the whole I think we must leave the announcement as it stands in all its baldness.

    The Letters of Cicero, Volume 1

    Marcus Tullius Cicero

  • His frown caused a disturbance throughout his vast tracts of baldness.

    Otherwise Phyllis

    Meredith Nicholson

British Dictionary definitions for baldness

bald

adjective
  1. having no hair or fur, esp (of a man) having no hair on all or most of the scalp
  2. lacking natural growth or covering
  3. plain or blunta bald statement
  4. bare or simple; unadorned
  5. Also: baldfaced (of certain birds and other animals) having white markings on the head and face
  6. (of a tyre) having a worn tread
Derived Formsbaldish, adjectivebaldly, adverbbaldness, noun

Word Origin

C14 ballede (literally: having a white spot); related to Danish bǣldet, Greek phalaros having a white spot
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for baldness

n.

late 14c., from bald + -ness.

bald

adj.

c.1300, ballede, probably, with Middle English -ede adjectival suffix + Celtic bal "white patch, blaze" especially on the head of a horse or other animal (from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, gleam;" see bleach (v.)). Cf., from the same root, Sanskrit bhalam "brightness, forehead," Greek phalos "white," Latin fulcia "coot" (so called for the white patch on its head), Albanian bale "forehead." But connection with ball (n.1), on notion of "smooth, round" also has been suggested. Bald eagle first attested 1680s; so called for its white head.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
baldness in Medicine

baldness

(bôld′nĭs)
n.
  1. The lack of all or a significant part of the hair on the head and sometimes on other parts of the body.

bald

(bôld)
adj.
  1. Lacking hair on the head.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.