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arid

[ar-id]
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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; jejune: an arid treatment of an exciting topic.
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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. 2018

Related Words

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Examples from the Web for aridity

Historical Examples

  • 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.

  • That great craving for cold and wet is a sign of the heat and aridity that is within.

British Dictionary definitions for aridity

arid

adjective
  1. having little or no rain; dry; parched with heat
  2. devoid of interest
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Derived Formsaridity (əˈrɪdɪtɪ) or aridness, nounaridly, adverb

Word Origin

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

n.

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.

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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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
aridity in Science

arid

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