barren
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Not bearing children.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
baruhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbæɹən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
of people and animalsnot comparable
Not bearing children, childless; hence also unable to bear children, sterile.
of places
Of poor fertility, infertile; not producing vegetation; desert, waste.
of plantsnot comparable
Not bearing seed or fruit.
Devoid of interest or attraction, poor, bleak.
Unproductive, fruitless, unprofitable; empty, hollow, vain.
Mentally dull or unproductive; stupid or intellectually fallow.
noun
An area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.
usually in the plural
In particular, a usually elevated and flat expanse of land that only supports the growth of small trees and shrubs, and sometimes mosses or heathers, berries, and other marshy or moory vegetation, but little agriculture and few people.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (of people and animals, not comparable) Not bearing children, childless; hence also unable to bear children, sterile.
Used this way, barren is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Of tundra of northern Canada.
Deep-rooted perennial of southeastern United States.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: area of low fertility and habitation
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.