sere

¹ American  

[seer] / sɪər /

Or sear

adjective

1. dry; withered.

   Synonyms:

   wizened, desiccated, arid

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sere ² American  

[seer] / sɪər /

noun

1. the series of stages in an ecological succession.

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sere ¹ British  

/ sɪə /

adjective

1. archaic dried up or withered

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verb

1. a rare spelling of sear 1

sere ² British  

/ sɪə /

noun

1. the series of changes occurring in the ecological succession of a particular community

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sere Scientific  

/ sîr /

1. The entire sequence of ecological communities successively occupying an area from the initial stage to the climax community.

2. See more at succession

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Etymology

Origin of sere¹

before 900; Middle English seer ( e ), Old English sēar; see sear ¹

Origin of sere²

First recorded in 1915–20; back formation from series

Explanation

You can describe something that is dried up, withered, or without moisture with the adjective sere. The desert climate, for example, is sere, as is your skin after a day in the wind. Sere’s shriveled and withered meaning crops up in things like Shakespeare's Macbeth ("My way of life Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf;" 5:III), or in archaic references to Sere-month (August), but it isn't frequently used in modern conversation. The variant spelling of sere is sear, which has other meanings that see more modern use.

Example Sentences

Indeed, the opening image of “Bardo” suggests that Iñárritu has created “Birdman 2.0,” as a man, seen only as his shadow, repeatedly takes flight over a sere desert landscape.

From Washington Post • Nov. 9, 2022

From 1970 to 1984, in the sere hills of Irvine, people paid admission to drive their cars through a wild animal park where, “Jurassic Park” fashion, things could go wrong.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 20, 2021

Some of the best of what was left of what had been a rolling inland sea of sere, sage green.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 7, 2021

Winter is the best time for walking, May insists in this wide-ranging rumination on the sere, dark, cold season.

From Slate • Dec. 16, 2020

The margins of the spring’s small lively pool were frozen, and the sere moss among the rocks was traced with flowers of frost.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin