sterile
/ˈstɛɹəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.43 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Terse; lacking sentiment or emotional stimulation, as in a manner of speaking.
adj
Fruitless, uninspiring, or unproductive.
adj
Germless; free from all living or viable microorganisms.
adj
Permanently uninhabitable (as in a planet like Earth) to all life, including even microbes.
Example Sentences
- "According to that Cabaliſticall Dogma: If Abram had not had this Letter [i.e., ה (he)] added unto his Name he had remained fruitleſſe, and without the power of generation: […] So that being ſterill before, he received the power of generation from that meaſure and manſion in the Archetype; and was made conformable unto Binah."
- "a sterile kitchen table"
- "An early CIA decision was to bring war surplus in Europe to the United States, rather than let it fall into the hands of left-wing movements. Some of the guns would also, it was reasoned, be useful as "sterile" weapons (foreign-made and untraceable to the United States) to be provided secretly to foreign friends."
- "In addition to this rapid supply system, the US Army Counterinsurgency Support Office on Okinawa helped procure special equipment including rucksacks, special rations for irregular troops, 'sterile' weapons which could not be traced to the USA and other items not procurable through foreign channels."
Etymology
From Middle French stérile, from Latin sterilis (“barren, futile”). See also Ancient Greek στεῖρα (steîra).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: stérile, sterilis
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈstɛɹəl/
- British English: /ˈstɛɹaɪl/
Usage
- American usage
Inflected Forms
more sterile (comparative)
most sterile (superlative)