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arid

[ ar-id ]
/ ˈær ɪd /
SEE 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.

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Commas mark divisions in sentences. Periods end declarative sentences. Apostrophes show possession. Easy, right? Well, punctuation can get pretty tricky—fast. Think you got what it takes to be a punctuation expert? Take our quiz to prove it!
Question 1 of 10
Which of the options below is the best punctuation for the sentence? It__s your turn to pick the movie __ but your sister gets to pick the board game we _ re going to play.
Its your turn to pick the movie but your sister gets to pick the board game we’re going to play.
It’s your turn to pick the movie but your sister gets to pick the board game were going to play.
It’s your turn to pick the movie, but your sister gets to pick the board game we’re going to play.
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Origin of arid

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

synonym study for arid

1. See dry.

OTHER WORDS FROM arid

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

Words nearby arid

arias sánchez, arias-stella phenomenon, arias-stella reaction, ariboflavinosis, arica, arid, arid zone, aridification, aridisol, aridity index, ariel
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to aridity

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

Example sentences from the Web for aridity

British Dictionary definitions for aridity

arid
/ (ˈærɪd) /

adjective

having little or no rain; dry; parched with heat
devoid of interest

Derived forms of arid

aridity (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

Scientific definitions for aridity

arid
[ ăr′ĭd ]

Very dry, especially having less precipitation than is needed to support most trees or woody plants. Deserts have arid climates.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.