arid
Americanadjective
-
being without moisture; extremely dry; parched.
arid land;
an arid climate.
-
barren or unproductive because of lack of moisture.
arid farmland.
-
lacking interest or imaginativeness; sterile.
an arid treatment of an exciting topic.
- Synonyms:
- pedantic, jejune, uninspiring, uninspired, vapid, dreary, tedious, dull
- Antonyms:
- imaginative, spirited, exciting, interesting, lively
adjective
-
having little or no rain; dry; parched with heat
-
devoid of interest
Synonym Usage
See dry.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of arid
First recorded in 1645–55; from French or directly from Latin āridus, equivalent to ār(ēre) “to be dry” + -idus adjective suffix; see -id 4; cf. ash 1
Explanation
Arid is so dry that nothing will grow. Death Valley in California features an arid climate, which is why it's called Death Valley and not Life Valley. Arid can also mean terribly dull or lifeless. A textbook about the climate of Death Valley might be called arid if it's written in an uninteresting way. Just like you wouldn't want to live in an arid climate, you wouldn't want to sit through an arid performance of the film-turned-musical, "Some Like it Hot."
Vocabulary lists containing arid
100 Top "SAT" Words
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A Long Walk to Water
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Physical Geography - Introductory
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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.
Using geochemical data, mineral analysis, and simulations of bioturbation, the researchers discovered repeated humid and arid climate cycles during the Late Cretaceous.
From Science Daily • May 27, 2026
Southern Californians traveling the arid stretches of the I-15 would see Primm pop up.
From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026
"And a large part of our country, especially the regions that were keen to see this law amended, are arid and semi-arid areas, where water is a scarce resource," Rossi Serra added.
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026
Like most of its neighbours in this arid region, the small Gulf monarchy depends heavily on imports, especially for its food supply.
From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026
In a moment they had lost their choppiness arid had lengthened into long swells that came slow and syrupy.
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
