barefoot

American  

[bair-foot] / ˈbɛərˌfʊt /

adjective

1. Also barefooted. with the feet bare.

   a barefoot boy;

   to walk barefoot.

2. Carpentry. (of a post or stud) secured to a sill or the like without mortising.

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barefoot British  

/ ˈbɛəˌfʊt /

adjective

1. with the feet uncovered

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Etymology

Origin of barefoot

before 1000; Middle English barfot, Old English bærfōt. See bare ¹, foot

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Explanation

When you're barefoot, you're not wearing any shoes or socks. It might feel good to walk barefoot on a sandy beach on a warm day, but just don't try entering a restaurant barefoot. Some kids might spend the whole summer barefoot, walking down sidewalks with their sneakers in their hands, and if you're a lifeguard or a professional gymnast, you get to be barefoot at work. The Old English root of barefoot is bærfot, combining bær, "naked" or "uncovered," with fot, "foot."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

barefoot

There’s a scene in the new “Sense and Sensibility,” out this week, in which Jane Austen’s classic heart-on-her sleeve heroine Marianne Dashwood runs through the woods barefoot.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

He goes barefoot or puts on his dress shoes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

"We walked barefoot and we didn't carry anything with us, just our children," she told me.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

This is the supposedly pristine island that Ivanka had hiked up barefoot.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

I hopped on my bike barefoot and pedaled down the streets, determined never to return.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

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