bare
/bɛɹ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.18 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Minimal; that is or are just sufficient.
adj
Having no decoration.
adj
With head uncovered; bareheaded.
Example Sentences
- "a bare majority"
- "Nature indeed furnishes us with the bare necessaries of life, but traffic gives us a great variety of what is useful"
- ""I refuse to show myself out of doors in my bare feet," the Centipede said. "I have to get my boots on again first.""
- "a room bare of furniture"
- "The cupboard was bare."
- "Localities across New Jersey imposed curfews to prevent looting. In Monmouth, Ocean and other counties, people waited for hours for gasoline at the few stations that had electricity. Supermarket shelves were stripped bare."
Etymology
From Middle English bare, bar, from Old English bær (“bare, naked, open”), from Proto-West Germanic *baʀ, from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“bare, naked”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós, from *bʰos- (“bare, barefoot”). Cognate with Scots bare, bair (“bare”), Saterland Frisian bar (“bare”), West Frisian baar (“bare”), Dutch bar (“bare”), German bar (“bare”), Swedish bar (“bare”), Icelandic ber (“bare”), Lithuanian basas (“barefoot, bare”), Polish bosy (“barefoot”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bɛɹ/
- British English: /bɛə/