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barren

bar·ren
B b

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [bar-uh n]
    • /ˈbær ən/
    • /ˈbær.ən/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [bar-uh n]
    • /ˈbær ən/

Definitions of barren word

  • adjective barren A barren landscape is dry and bare, and has very few plants and no trees. 3
  • adjective barren Barren land consists of soil that is so poor that plants cannot grow in it. 3
  • adjective barren If you describe something such as an activity or a period of your life as barren, you mean that you achieve no success during it or that it has no useful results. 3
  • adjective barren If you describe a room or a place as barren, you do not like it because it has almost no furniture or other objects in it. 3
  • adjective barren A barren woman or female animal is unable to have babies. 3
  • adjective barren incapable of producing offspring, seed, or fruit; sterile 3

Information block about the term

Origin of barren

First appearance:

before 1200
One of the 9% oldest English words
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

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Barren

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

barren popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 92% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

barren usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for barren

adj barren

  • desolate — A desolate place is empty of people and lacking in comfort.
  • sterile — free from living germs or microorganisms; aseptic: sterile surgical instruments.
  • arid — Arid land is so dry that very few plants can grow on it.
  • parched — to make extremely, excessively, or completely dry, as heat, sun, and wind do.
  • impoverished — reduced to poverty.

adjective barren

  • bleak — If a situation is bleak, it is bad, and seems unlikely to improve.
  • inhospitable — not inclined to, or characterized by, hospitality, as persons or actions; unfriendly.
  • stark — sheer, utter, downright, or complete: stark madness.
  • harsh — ungentle and unpleasant in action or effect: harsh treatment; harsh manners.
  • austere — If you describe something as austere, you approve of its plain and simple appearance.

noun barren

  • badlands — any deeply eroded barren area
  • barrens — (in North America) a stretch of usually level land that is sparsely vegetated or barren
  • dust bowl — the region in the S central U.S. that suffered from dust storms in the 1930s.
  • sahara — a desert in N Africa, extending from the Atlantic to the Nile valley. About 3,500,000 sq. mi. (9,065,000 sq. km).
  • brushland — an area of land characterized by patchy shrubs and bushes

Antonyms for barren

adj barren

  • fruitful — producing good results; beneficial; profitable: fruitful investigations.
  • productive — having the power of producing; generative; creative: a productive effort.
  • damp — Something that is damp is slightly wet.
  • moist — moderately or slightly wet; damp.
  • wet — moistened, covered, or soaked with water or some other liquid: wet hands.

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See also

Matching words

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