aridity

American  

[uh-rid-i-tee] / əˈrɪd ɪ ti /

Also aridness

noun

1. the state or quality of being extremely dry.

   Many plant and animal adaptations to withstand the intense aridity of the desert are quite bizarre.

2. the quality of lacking interest, liveliness, or imaginativeness; sterility.

   His writing style is excellent, avoiding the technical aridity of most professional science publications.

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Etymology

Origin of aridity

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin āriditāt-, stem of āriditās, equivalent to ārid(us) “dry” ( arid ( def. ) ) + -itās -ity ( def. )

Example Sentences

Officials have long warned that continued climate change could whipsaw California between precipitation extremes, with the state trending toward aridity, interspersed with exceptionally wet years.

From Los Angeles Times

Dating to between 12,800 and 11,400 years ago, the engravings correspond to a time when temporary lakes and rivers reappeared after centuries of extreme aridity.

From Science Daily

The desert's extreme aridity makes it one of the clearest places on Earth to view the night sky and is famous for being home to the largest radio telescope in the world.

From BBC

That such rapid and substantial overuse of groundwater is also causing coastal flooding underscores the compounding threat of rising temperatures and aridity.

From Salon

But many leading producers face higher temperatures, greater aridity, and other challenges to raising a crop that requires very specific conditions to thrive.

From Salon

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