bald

[bawld]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bald ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

having little or no hair on the scalp: a bald head; a bald person.

destitute of some natural growth or covering: a bald mountain.

lacking detail; bare; plain; unadorned: a bald prose style.

open; undisguised: a bald lie.

Zoology. having white on the head: the bald eagle.

Automotive. (of a tire) having the tread completely worn away.

verb (used without object)

to become bald.

noun

(often initial capital letter) Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. a treeless mountaintop or area near the top: often used as part of a proper name.

Nearby words

Origin of bald

1250–1300; Middle English ball(e)d, equivalent to ball white spot (compare Welsh bal, Greek phaliós having a white spot) + -ed -ed³

SYNONYMS FOR bald

4. bare, barefaced, flagrant, patent, utter, out-and-out, downright, flat-out.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bald ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

bald·ish, adjectivebald·ly, adverbbald·ness, nounhalf-bald, adjective

sem·i·bald, adjectivesem·i·bald·ly, adverbsem·i·bald·ness, noun

Can be confusedbald balled bawled

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

Examples from the Web for bald

“You can cut my hair, you can bald me, you can strip me naked and take away my dignity,” she said.
A Quorum For Change: The Fight For Global LGBT Equality|Justin Jones|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And sitting down is a bald man who looks like Hank from Breaking Bad.
The Holy Grail of Comic Books Hid in Plain Site at New York Comic Con|Sujay Kumar|October 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His bald head, oversize features, and animated, bulging eyes gave him a Shrek-like appearance.
For Ukrainians on Holiday, the Carpathians Are the New Crimea|Vijai Maheshwari|July 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Kashkari, an Indian American who looks vaguely like a bald Ray Romano, is both pro-choice and a supporter of same-sex marriage.
Inside California's Crazy Race To Be The GOP Gubernatorial Candidate|Olivia Nuzzi|May 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST

When people see you bald for the first time, they are a little taken aback, so earrings give them something to focus on.
A Breast Cancer Alphabet: F Is For Fashion Accessories|Madhulika Sikka|February 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Another form of the trick of idiosyncrasy is the bald realism of the sensationalist.
How to Write a Novel|Anonymous
Elisha could not have been bald from old age, since he lived on for nearly sixty years, and must have been a young man.
The Expositor's Bible|F. W. Farrar
But with the gray dawn illusions vanished, and the miserable reality stood out, bald and unmistakable.
History of the Second Massachusetts Regiment of Infantry: A prisoner's diary|Samuel M. Quincy
After a while he began to recover; large patches of hair fell from his scalp, leaving his head thickly covered with bald spots.
The Twin Hells|John N. Reynolds
The proprietor was leaning against the counter playing with his watch-chain—a short man with a bald head.
The Underdog|F. Hopkinson Smith

British Dictionary definitions for bald

bald

adjective

having no hair or fur, esp (of a man) having no hair on all or most of the scalp

lacking natural growth or covering

plain or blunta bald statement

bare or simple; unadorned

Also: baldfaced (of certain birds and other animals) having white markings on the head and face

(of a tyre) having a worn tread

Derived Formsbaldish, adjectivebaldly, adverbbaldness, noun

Word Origin for bald

C14 ballede (literally: having a white spot); related to Danish bǣldet, Greek phalaros having a white spot

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 bald

bald

adj.

c.1300, ballede, probably, with Middle English -ede adjectival suffix + Celtic bal "white patch, blaze" especially on the head of a horse or other animal (from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, gleam;" see bleach (v.)). Cf., from the same root, Sanskrit bhalam "brightness, forehead," Greek phalos "white," Latin fulcia "coot" (so called for the white patch on its head), Albanian bale "forehead." But connection with ball (n.1), on notion of "smooth, round" also has been suggested. Bald eagle first attested 1680s; so called for its white head.

Medicine definitions for bald

bald

[bôld]

adj.

Lacking hair on the head.

bald

adjective

verb (used without object)

noun

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Origin of bald

Examples from the Web for bald

bald

adjective

Word Origin for bald

bald

bald

adj.