barren
/ˈbæɹən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.40 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Devoid of interest or attraction, poor, bleak.
adj
adj
Mentally dull or unproductive; stupid or intellectually fallow.
Example Sentences
- "I silently wept as my daughter's husband rejected her. What would she do now that she was no longer a maiden but also barren?"
- "Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, To touch Calpurnia; for our elders say, The barren, touched in this holy chase, Shake off their sterile curse."
- "The druids […] believed that mistletoe could make barren animals fecund, and that it was an antidote to all poisons."
- "barren mountain tracts"
- "We have descended Tian Shan and entered the Taklamakan Desert, a barren landscape painted in ecru—no shrubs, no grass, only waves upon waves of naked ridges the color of buff, the highest few spotted with white specks of snow."
- "Terraforming even a barren planet often involves significant financial and ethical hurdles."
Etymology
From Middle English bareyne, from Anglo-Norman baraigne, baraing (“sterile; barren”), of obscure origin; probably from a Germanic language, perhaps Frankish *baʀ (“bare; barren”), from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“bare”). If so, a cognate of English bare.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: bareyne, baraigne, *baʀ, *bazaz
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbæɹən/
- British English: /ˈbæɹən/
Inflected Forms
barrener (comparative)
more barren (comparative)
barrenest (superlative)
most barren (superlative)
barrens (plural)