arid

American  

[ar-id] / ˈær ɪd /

adjective

1. being without moisture; extremely dry; parched.

   arid land;

   an arid climate.

2. barren or unproductive because of lack of moisture.

   arid farmland.

3. 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

---

arid British  

/ ˈærɪd, əˈrɪdɪtɪ /

adjective

1. having little or no rain; dry; parched with heat

2. devoid of interest

---

arid Scientific  

/ ăr′ĭd /

1. Very dry, especially having less precipitation than is needed to support most trees or woody plants. Deserts have arid climates.

---

Synonym Usage

See dry.

Other Word Forms

• aridity
  noun
• aridly
  adverb
• aridness
  noun
• hyperarid
  adjective

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."

Example Sentences

Arid areas are characterized by a large amount of sunlight and a relative paucity of plant diversity and biomass, which makes them especially suited for large solar farms.

From Science Daily • Dec. 13, 2023

Arid land and non-forest land can also be used for construction, the regulation said, adding that usual processes including building notifications and objections will not be required during planning and land subdivision processes.

From Reuters • Feb. 24, 2023

Arid climate zones will expand northward and snow-capped mountains in more northern climes will diminish during this century, said Dr. George Zittis, who co-authored the report.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 6, 2022

Johannes Knops of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China, recently had his name removed as an “editorial member” from the journal Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions; he says he never agreed to the job.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 28, 2021

Arid I don’t mean that as a distortion, like she always says I do.

From "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel

Related Words

• barren
• bone-dry
• desert
• dusty
• parched