Etymology
Origin of barbed
Explanation
Something that's barbed is sharp or spiky. Barbed wire has very sharp points at intervals along its length, to keep animals or people in (or out of) a yard. Roses are famous for their sweet blossoms and barbed stems. A fish hook is also barbed, with a sharp spike on its end. You can use barbed figuratively, to describe cruel or biting words: "Her barbed comment made it clear how angry she was after the practical joke he'd played on her." The root of barbed is the Old French word for "beard," or "something beardlike," barbe, from the Latin barba, also "beard."
Vocabulary lists containing barbed
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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Seedfolks
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This Week in Words: October 22 - 27, 2017
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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.
Barbed wire served as a symbol of violence and oppression, but also of agriculture, cultivation and survival.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
Barbed wire also became a common sight, strewn across the no-man’s-
From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022
Mr. Markus published three books of photographs of modern-day cowboys taken on remote ranches, starting in 1985 with “After Barbed Wire: Cowboys of Our Time.”
From New York Times • Jul. 4, 2022
Barbed wire and water trucks could be seen blocking the area.
From Reuters • May 26, 2022
Barbed comments hurt more when they come from a neighbor or a friend.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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.
