barren

American  

[bar-uhn] / ˈbær ən /

adjective

1. 

   not producing or incapable of producing offspring; sterile.

   a barren woman.

   Synonyms:

   infertile, unprolific, childless

   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 byof ).

   barren of tender feelings.

   Antonyms:

   fertile

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noun

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

barren British  

/ 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

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Synonym Usage

See bare ¹.

Other Word Forms

• barrenness
  noun
• unbarrenness
  noun
• unbarren
  adjective
• barrenly
  adverb
• unbarrenly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of barren

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 ( see bare ¹ ( def. ))

Explanation

Drive through a forest that's just been destroyed by a fire, and you'll get an idea of what barren means — stripped of vegetation and devoid of life. Not to be confused with a baron, a kind of nobleman, barren is often used to describe an area of land that lacks any signs of life. A barren wilderness is dry and empty, with no foliage or twittering birds to be found. An old-fashioned and unflattering word for a woman who is unable to have children is barren.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

barren

Inside the barren transit tent, which provides little escape from scorching 41C heat, Zarina sits alongside an anxious huddle of women and their children.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Beginning in approximately 1890, it was intended as a humanist revival and a cultural regeneration in a world rendered barren by industry and technology.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

A series of severe heat waves and prolonged droughts have turned many European riverbeds into barren sandscapes this summer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

In recent days, AFP journalists have seen roe deer and fawns looking disorientated in the middle of scorched and barren woodland.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

But high on “a dry and barren mudflow, 5,000 feet up on the slopes of Mount St. Helens,” del Moral remembered, it was more like a miracle.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

Related Words

• arid
• desolate
• empty
• impoverished
• infertile
• parched
• sterile