barren

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈbæɹən/ UK /ˈbæɹən/ See IPA manual

Freq #11668

Meanings

1

adj
Having poor soil where few plants can grow; empty and bare.

Nothing grows on the barren, rocky hillside.
2

adj
Not able to have children or produce young.

In the story, the queen wept because she was barren.
3

adj
Lacking something; producing nothing useful.

The negotiations proved barren of any real results.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · not able to have children... infertile sterile

3 adj · lacking something;... bereft destitute

More fruitless

Opposites

fertile fruitful

Word family

Forms barrenerbarrenestbarrenly

Derived forms barrenlybarrennessbarrenwortnonbarrenoverbarrensemibarrenunbarren

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 doublet of bare.

bareyne Middle English baraigne xno *baʀ frk *bazaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# barren

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈbæɹən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbæɹən/
**Frequency rank:** 11668

## Meanings
1. Having poor soil where few plants can grow; empty and bare.
2. Not able to have children or produce young.
3. Lacking something; producing nothing useful.

## Examples
- Nothing grows on the barren, rocky hillside.
- In the story, the queen wept because she was barren.
- The negotiations proved barren of any real results.

## Synonyms
- fruitless
- sterile

## Antonyms
- fertile
- fruitful

## Derived Forms
- barrenly
- barrenness
- barrenwort
- nonbarren
- overbarren
- semibarren
- unbarren

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bareyne
- Root: baraigne
- Root: *baʀ
- Root: *bazaz

## 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 doublet of bare.

## AI Etymology
Barren comes 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 doublet of bare.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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