bald

[bawld]

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.

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

Related formsbald·ish, adjectivebald·ly, adverbbald·ness, nounhalf-bald, adjectivesem·i·bald, adjectivesem·i·bald·ly, adverbsem·i·bald·ness, noun

Can be confusedbald balled bawled

Synonyms for bald

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

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

Examples from the Web for baldly

Contemporary Examples of baldly

They did not baldly call for a coup, but they did exhort soldiers to “take a stand.”
Thailand’s Prime Minister Toppled by ‘The Iron Triangle’
Lennox Samuels
May 7, 2014
So baldly clear is this realization that I might as well be acknowledging that I will never have eight legs and spin a web.
A New E-Book from Jonathan Rauch: 'Denial'
David Frum
May 1, 2013
Chavez could be declared "temporarily absent," a narrowly legal if baldly political maneuver to forestall succession.
If Hugo Chavez Succumbs, a Dangerous Limbo for Venezuela
Mac Margolis
January 6, 2013
Brzezinski drafted a letter for Carter to send to the shah that baldly enjoined him to use force against the demonstrators.
How the U.S. Will Lose Egypt
Geoffrey Wawro
January 31, 2011
In 2002, Americans rejected this baldly isolationist statement by well over two to one.
The New McCarthyism
Peter Beinart
September 12, 2010

Historical Examples of baldly

"We mustn't put it too baldly," observed Southend, dangling his eyeglass.
Tristram of Blent
Anthony Hope
It looked to them as if Patsy were down and out, to state it baldly.
Seven Miles to Arden
Ruth Sawyer
Such, crudely and baldly, is the famous nebular hypothesis of Laplace.
Pioneers of Science
Oliver Lodge
It is not necessary to resort to the measure so baldly suggested.
China, Japan and the U.S.A.
John Dewey
She had not meant to say that so baldly, and she was sorry for the slip as soon as the words were out.
The Eddy
Clarence L. Cullen

British Dictionary definitions for baldly

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 baldly

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.

baldly in Medicine

bald

[bôld]

adj.

Lacking hair on the head.