Karoo

American  

[kuh-roo] / kəˈru /

Or Karroo

noun

plural

karoos

1. a vast plateau in the Republic of South Africa, in Cape of Good Hope province. 100,000 square miles (260,000 square kilometers); 3000–4000 feet (900–1200 meters) above sea level.

2. (lowercase) an arid South African tableland with red clay soil.

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Karoo British  

/ kəˈruː /

noun

1. any of several high arid plateaus in South Africa, esp the Central Karoo and the Little Karoo. The highveld, north of the Central Karoo, is sometimes called the Northern Karoo

2. a period or rock system in Southern Africa equivalent to the period or system extending from the Upper Carboniferous to the Lower Jurassic: divided into Lower and Upper Karoo

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adjective

1. of, denoting, or formed in the Karoo period

karoo Scientific  

/ kə-ro̅o̅′ /

1. A semiarid plateau. The most well-known karoos cover nearly 400,000 sq km (156,000 sq mi) of southern Africa. Karoos are terrace shaped and characterized by low scrub vegetation.

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Etymology

Origin of Karoo

First recorded in 1785–90; from Afrikaans kar(r)oo, from Khoikhoi; compare Xhaeruh, Phaeruh placename recorded in 1689, Nama garo “parched, dry, arid,” !garo-b “desolate waste”

Example Sentences

Some dinosaurs may have briefly survived the initial eruptions, but they were likely among the last animals to live in the Karoo Basin at that time.

From Science Daily • Apr. 24, 2026

The Karoo Basin, once contiguous with Antarctica—and later underwater and now semi-arid—was a verdant home for what the show says were six basic groups of therapsids.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026

So Michael builds a handcart for her to travel in - and they set off from Cape Town through the Karoo semi-desert.

From BBC • Aug. 2, 2023

These will form a collection of 197 antennas, extending over about 150 kilometres in South Africa’s dry Karoo region.

From Scientific American • Dec. 6, 2022

This at least was satisfactory, as it meant without fail good-bye to the hated Karoo.

From On the Heels of De Wet by James, Lionel