sterile
Americanadjective
-
free from living germs or microorganisms; aseptic.
Successful operations rely on timely delivery of the sterile surgical instruments needed for each procedure.
-
incapable of producing offspring; not producing offspring.
- Synonyms:
- unfruitful, infecund
- Antonyms:
- fertile
-
barren; not producing vegetation.
Attempts to cultivate the land have failed because of the sterile soil.
- Antonyms:
- fertile
-
Botany.
-
noting a plant in which reproductive structures fail to develop.
-
bearing no stamens or pistils.
-
-
not productive of results, ideas, etc.; fruitless.
-
lacking vitality, vibrancy, interest, etc..
Art can transform an otherwise sterile office into a happy, inspiring, and comforting space.
adjective
-
unable to produce offspring; infertile
-
free from living, esp pathogenic, microorganisms; aseptic
-
(of plants or their parts) not producing or bearing seeds, fruit, spores, stamens, or pistils
-
lacking inspiration or vitality; fruitless
-
economics (of gold) not being used to support credit creation or an increased money supply
-
Not able to produce offspring, seeds, or fruit; unable to reproduce.
-
Free from disease-causing microorganisms.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sterile
First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin sterilis “barren, unfruitful”
Explanation
A sterile person can't have kids, and a sterile environment is bland and boring. In both cases, sterile means lifeless. When you hear about a sterile person, it means they can't have kids: sterile women can't get pregnant, and sterile men can't be fathers. But the concept of sterility applies to things, too. An empty, white room with nothing in it is sterile. And a surgeon's instruments better be sterile — meaning they're free from germs and bacteria.
Vocabulary lists containing sterile
The Handmaid's Tale
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Boy: Tales of Childhood
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All Thirteen
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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.
Sterile insect technique has been used for years to decrease and control pests.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2026
This method, known as the Sterile Insect Technique, has been in use for many years to control a variety of insect populations, including fruit flies and mosquitos.
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
The second protein, SARM1 -- short for Sterile Alpha and TIR Motif-containing 1 -- has long been linked to axon degeneration.
From Science Daily • Jan. 27, 2026
Sterile discussions about policy can mask the moral injury that is being done there.
From Salon • Dec. 16, 2024
Sterile and fertile flowers occupying different heads, the latter clustered below, the former in short spikes or racemes above.
From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa
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.
