Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Barren
Bar′ren
(băr′ren)
, Adj.
[OE.
barein
, OF. brehaing
, fem. brehaigne
, baraigne
, F. bréhaigne
; of uncertain origin; cf. Arm. brékhañ
, markhañ
, sterile; LL. brana
a sterile mare, principally in Aquitanian and Spanish documents; Bisc. barau
, baru
, fasting.] 1.
Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young; sterile; – said of women and female animals.
She was
barren
of children. Bp. Hall.
2.
Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation; sterile.
“Barren mountain tracts.” Macaulay.
3.
Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty.
Brilliant but
barren
reveries. Prescott.
Some schemes will appear
barren
of hints and matter. Swift.
4.
Mentally dull; stupid.
Shak.
Barren flower
, a flower which has only stamens without a pistil, or which has neither stamens nor pistils.
– Barren Grounds
(Geog.)
, a vast tract in British America northward of the forest regions.
– Barren Ground bear
(Zool.)
, a peculiar bear, inhabiting the Barren Grounds, now believed to be a variety of the brown bear of Europe.
– Barren Ground caribou
(Zool.)
, a small reindeer (
Rangifer Grœnlandicus
) peculiar to the Barren Grounds and Greenland.Bar′ren
,Noun.
1.
A tract of barren land.
2.
pl.
Elevated lands or plains on which grow small trees, but not timber;
as, pine
. They are not necessarily sterile, and are often fertile. barrens
; oak barrens
[Amer.]
J. Pickering.
Webster 1828 Edition
Barren
BAR'REN
,Adj.
1.
Not producing young, or offspring; applied to animals.2.
Not producing plants; unfruitful; steril; not fertile; or producing little; unproductive; applied to the earth.3.
Not producing the usual fruit; applied to tree,&c.4.
Not copious; scanty; as a scheme barren of hints.5.
Not containing useful or entertaining ideas; as a barren treatise.6.
Unmeaning; uninventive; dull; as barren spectators.7.
Unproductive; not inventive; as a barren mind.BAR'REN
,Noun.
44
2.
Any unproductive tract of land; as the pine barrens of South Carolina.Definition 2024
Barren
barren
barren
See also: Barren
English
Adjective
barren (comparative barrener or more barren, superlative barrenest or most barren)
- (not comparable) Unable to bear children; sterile.
- 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?
- Of poor fertility, infertile; not producing vegetation.
- Thomas Macaulay (1800–1859)
- barren mountain tracts
- 2014 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25 December 2014, p. 7]”, in The New York Times:
- The druids […] believed that mistletoe could make barren animals fecund, and that it was an antidote to all poisons.
- Thomas Macaulay (1800–1859)
- Bleak.
- 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
- As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.
-
- Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty.
- William H. Prescott (1796-1859)
- brilliant but barren reveries
- Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
- Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter.
- 2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC:
- Rooney had been suffered a barren spell for England with only one goal in 15 games but he was in no mood to ignore the gifts on offer in front of an increasingly subdued Bulgarian support.
- William H. Prescott (1796-1859)
- Mentally dull; stupid.
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, III.ii. ca. 1602
- Set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too.
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, III.ii. ca. 1602
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations
unable to bear children; sterile
|
|
infertile
|
|
bleak
unproductive
Noun
barren (plural barrens)
- An area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.
- The pine barrens are a site lonely enough to suit any hermit.
Translations
area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place