arid

[ar-id]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR arid ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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; jejune: an arid treatment of an exciting topic.

Origin of arid

1645–55; (< F) < Latin āridus, equivalent to ār(ēre) to be dry + -idus -id⁴; cf. ash¹

Related formsa·rid·i·ty

[uh-rid-i-tee] /əˈrɪd ɪ ti/, ar·id·ness, nounar·id·ly, adverbhy·per·ar·id, adjective

Synonym study

1. See dry.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for aridity

bankruptcy, debt, hardship, lack, famine, difficulty, scarcity, shortage, starvation, deficit, desire, longing, eagerness, hankering, hunger, lust, yearning, passion, appetite, insolvency

Examples from the Web for aridity

Historical Examples of aridity

We had an uncomfortable experience because of the excessive heat and aridity.
A Canyon Voyage
Frederick S. Dellenbaugh
That common thinness and aridity, too, of the Unitarian temper had weighed with him.
Robert Elsmere
Mrs. Humphry Ward
There is aridity, there is wildness, and yet there is a certain monotony.
The Sea
Jules Michelet
It is aridity, too, that gives their particular character to the Argentine Andes.
The Argentine Republic
Pierre Denis
That great craving for cold and wet is a sign of the heat and aridity that is within.
Monsieur de Pourceaugnac
Molire

British Dictionary definitions for aridity

arid

adjective

having little or no rain; dry; parched with heat

devoid of interest

Derived Formsaridity (əˈrɪdɪtɪ) or aridness, nounaridly, adverb

Word Origin for arid

C17: from Latin āridus, from ārēre to be dry

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 aridity

1590s, from Middle French aridité or directly from Latin ariditatem (nominative ariditas) "dryness," from aridus (see arid). The Latin word was used figuratively of unadorned styles as well as stingy men.

arid

adj.

1650s, "dry, parched," from French aride (15c.) or directly from Latin aridus "dry, arid, parched," from arere "to be dry," from PIE root *as- "to burn, glow" (see ash (n.1)). Figurative sense of "uninteresting" is from 1827. Related: Aridly.

aridity in Science

arid

[ăr′ĭd]

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