barren
Americanadjective
-
not producing or incapable of producing offspring; sterile.
a barren woman.
- Synonyms:
- infertile, unprolific, childless
- Antonyms:
- fertile
-
unproductive; unfruitful.
barren land.
- Antonyms:
- fertile
-
without capacity to interest or attract.
a barren period in American architecture.
- Antonyms:
- fertile
-
mentally unproductive; dull; stupid.
- Antonyms:
- fertile
-
not producing results; fruitless.
a barren effort.
- Synonyms:
- ineffective, ineffectual
- Antonyms:
- fertile
-
destitute; bereft; lacking (usually followed byof ).
barren of tender feelings.
- Antonyms:
- fertile
noun
adjective
-
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
Related Words
See bare 1.
Other Word Forms
- barrenly adverb
- barrenness noun
- unbarren adjective
- unbarrenly adverb
- unbarrenness noun
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 ( bare 1 ( def. ) )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Before the sun rose over a barren desert landscape, YouTuber Jimmy Williams watched as hundreds of subscribers took to his online chat room.
From BBC
The few remaining individuals live in barren, rugged terrain at high elevations.
From Los Angeles Times
Muhammad Naveed took the authorities to court this year over "large-scale tree cutting" for infrastructure projects, accusing them of felling "many mature trees" and leaving land "barren".
From Barron's
And after finishing last season without a trophy for the first time in eight years, Guardiola would love to end City's barren spell at Arsenal's expense.
From Barron's
The area was thought to be so polluted by toxic air and violent storms that it had become barren and frightening, described as "dark, and terrible," and avoided even by hunters.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
