Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for barren on Thesaurus.com not producing or incapable of producing offspring; sterile: a barren woman. unproductive; unfruitful: barren land. without capacity to interest or attract: a barren period in American architecture. mentally unproductive; dull; stupid. not producing results; fruitless: a barren effort. destitute; bereft; lacking (usually followed by of ): barren of tender feelings. Show More
Usually barrens. level or slightly rolling land, usually with a sandy soil and few trees, and relatively infertile. Show More
Origin of barren 1200–50; Middle English bareyn(e ), barayn(e ) < Anglo-French barai (gn)e, Old French brahaigne (French bréhaigne (of animals) sterile), akin to Spanish breña scrubby, uncultivated ground, Upper Italian barena land along a lagoon covered by high water; apparently < Celtic, compare Welsh braenar, Irish branar fallow land, but derivational details unclear
Related forms bar·ren·ly , adverb bar·ren·ness , noun un·bar·ren , adjective un·bar·ren·ly , adverb un·bar·ren·ness , noun Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for barren desolate ,
sterile ,
arid ,
parched ,
impoverished ,
infertile ,
empty ,
flat ,
dry ,
fallow ,
waste ,
desert ,
effete ,
fruitless ,
impotent ,
unfruitful ,
unproductive ,
infecund ,
unbearing ,
uncultivable Examples from the Web for barren Contemporary Examples of barren First, though, he has to be shocked into recognizing the barren waste of his spiritual life – by spirits.
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.
Shibirghan, the capital of Jowzjan province, is a remote and barren place, even by Afghan standards.
In an ugly, barren press conference, they demanded a new election.
Historical Examples of barren They are barren , till the imagination has tenanted them with possibilities of danger and dismay.
How long should its followers lurk in the barren lands of the North?
But she did not allow herself to fall into the idleness of barren speculation.
And both were so happy, so all in all to each other, as they left that barren threshold!
Once the earth was but a ball of dead, cold rock and barren sand.
British Dictionary definitions for barren incapable of producing offspring, seed, or fruit; sterile a barren tree unable to support the growth of crops, etc; unproductive; bare barren land lacking in stimulation or ideas; dull a rather barren play not producing worthwhile results; unprofitable a barren period in a writer's life (foll by of) totally lacking (in); devoid (of) his speech was barren of wit (of rock strata) having no fossils Show More
Derived Forms barrenly , adverb barrenness , noun Word Origin for barren C13: from Old French brahain , of uncertain origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for barren adj. c.1200, from Old French baraigne, baraing "sterile, barren" (12c.), perhaps originally brahain , of obscure derivation, perhaps from a Germanic language. In England, originally used of women, of land in France. Of land in English from late 14c. As a noun, mid-13c., "a barren woman;" later of land.
BARRENS. Elevated lands, or plains upon which grow small trees, but never timber. [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848] Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Not producing offspring. Incapable of producing offspring. Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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