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View synonyms for barren

barren

[ bar-uhn ]

adjective

  1. not producing or incapable of producing offspring; sterile:

    a barren woman.

    Synonyms: unprolific, childless, infertile

    Antonyms: fertile

  2. unproductive; unfruitful:

    barren land.

    Synonyms: waste, infertile

    Antonyms: fertile

  3. without capacity to interest or attract:

    a barren period in American architecture.

    Antonyms: fertile

  4. mentally unproductive; dull; stupid.

    Antonyms: fertile

  5. not producing results; fruitless:

    a barren effort.

    Synonyms: ineffective, ineffectual

    Antonyms: fertile

  6. destitute; bereft; lacking (usually followed by of ):

    barren of tender feelings.

    Antonyms: fertile



noun

  1. Usually barrens. level or slightly rolling land, usually with a sandy soil and few trees, and relatively infertile.

barren

/ ˈbærən /

adjective

  1. incapable of producing offspring, seed, or fruit; sterile

    a barren tree

  2. unable to support the growth of crops, etc; unproductive; bare

    barren land

  3. lacking in stimulation or ideas; dull

    a rather barren play

  4. not producing worthwhile results; unprofitable

    a barren period in a writer's life

  5. foll by of totally lacking (in); devoid (of)

    his speech was barren of wit

  6. (of rock strata) having no fossils
“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


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Derived Forms

  • ˈbarrenness, noun
  • ˈbarrenly, adverb
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Other Words From

  • barren·ly adverb
  • barren·ness noun
  • un·barren adjective
  • un·barren·ly adverb
  • un·barren·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of barren1

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English barayn(e), bareyn(e), from Anglo-French barai(gn)e, Old French brahaigne ( French bréhaigne “sterile”), akin to Spanish breña “scrubby, uncultivated ground,” Upper Italian barena “land along a lagoon covered by high water,” all of disputed ultimate origin; perhaps from Celtic (compare Irish branar, Welsh braenar “fallow land”); alternatively, perhaps from a Germanic source akin to Old English bær, Old High German bar ( bare 1( def ) )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of barren1

C13: from Old French brahain , of uncertain origin
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Synonym Study

See bare 1.
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Example Sentences

Temperatures across the barren, windy highlands routinely dip below –30° Celsius, and the grass that typically sustains the rabbitlike mammals becomes dry and brittle.

With the help of nonprofit groups, the community planted hundreds of trees, turning some of the barren hillsides green.

For example, if you select a grey leaning toward a blue hue you might get prospective buyers to question the brightness of a space as blue tones are often found to be “cold” or barren.

It was once thought the solar system was probably a barren wasteland apart from Earth.

In the present, out there in Australia’s dinosaur country, you might find yourself staring across a barren plain imagining what other secrets this world of long-lost giants will reveal.

First, though, he has to be shocked into recognizing the barren waste of his spiritual life – by spirits.

He'd kept the few offices at the front of the bungalow, now oddly barren.

Without it in the atmosphere, the Earth would be a barren, frozen wasteland.

Ibrahim Hijazi walked me through his barren house, emptied ahead of the demolition.

Some parts were arid, nearly barren, others green and fertile.

Nothing, however, can save us but a union, which would turn our barren hills into fruitful valleys.

The cost of extraction varies in different localities, depending mainly on the mass of barren rock to be encountered and removed.

There the quantity of barren overlying rock and earth is enormous, and detracts immensely from the value of the mines.

The coast is sandy, and from M. Peron's description, barren and unprofitable.

After a barren discussion she held out her hand, large and generous like herself.

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barrel vaultbarren ground caribou