Word Frequency
barren (ˈbærən
)
Definitions
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
Derived Forms
ˈbarrenly adverbˈbarrenness noun
Word Origin
C13: from Old French brahain, of uncertain originSynonyms
View thesaurus entry = dull, boring, commonplace, tedious, dreary, stale, lacklustre, monotonous, uninspiring, humdrum, uninteresting, vapid, unrewarding, as dry as dust,
Translations for 'barren'
- British English: barren A barren landscape is dry and bare, and has very few plants and no trees. ADJECTIVE...the country's landscape of high barren mountains.
- Brazilian Portuguese: estéril
- Chinese: 荒芜的荒芜蕪的
- European Spanish: árido árida
- French: aride
- German: unfruchtbar
- Italian: arido arida
- Japanese: 不毛の
- Korean: 불모의
- Portuguese: estéril
- Spanish: árido árida
Example Sentences Including 'barren'
Did last season's troubles, then, give him an insight into what it was like for Celtic during their barren years.Glasgow Herald (2001)
In the winter they were grey and barren , shrouded with cloud and often covered with deep snow.LOST SUMMER (2002)
It wasn't alone in that; there were dozens of such places scattered across the barren wastelands of the Soviet Union.CHAMELEON (2002)
Like the empty streams scarring the barren land around her, the lines on her face are etched deep, aging her beyond her 51 years.India Today (1998)
The blackened rocks and earth were barren , and the mountainsides stank like the ashes of a vast funeral pyre.When the Apricots Bloom
The doom-mongers had written her off in the barren years of her first attempted comeback.Glasgow Herald (2001)
The geologists lived in tents, dug their own latrine and lugged around bags of rock samples on the barren land.Edmonton Sun (2003)
They told her how to grow vegetables in the barren , sandy soil.New Testaments
Where rivers were once barren of the aggressive giants, a spotlight at night will now reflect a frightening number of reptilian eyes.New Zealand Herald (2003)
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