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

Angel Reese had 20 points to lead the Terrapins, who sere seeking their first win over a No. 1 team since topping North Carolina in 2006.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 12, 2021

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

A sere moonscape of rock, sand and mountains, portions of the park lie 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in North America.

From Washington Post • Jul. 10, 2021

I fear the only people who ate the treats from that American airdrop were journalists scouring the sere landscape for shiny packets of cookies.

From New York Times • Jan. 2, 2021

After inspecting the site itself—a wet, peaty bank strikingly unlike the sere desert home of Folsom and Clovis—the archaeologists ended up at a dimly lighted cantina with the appropriate name of La Caverna.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann