sere

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /sɪ(ə)ɹ/ UK /sɪə/ See IPA manual

Freq #66587

Meanings

1

adj
Without moisture; dry.

The autumn winds rushing / Waft the leaves that are searest, / But our flower was in flushing, / When blighting was nearest.
2

adj
Of thoughts, etc.: barren, fruitless.

Our talk had been serious and sober, But our thoughts they were palsied and sere— Our memories were treacherous and sere—.
3

adj
Of fabrics: threadbare, worn out.

The roaring wind! it roar'd far off, / It did not come anear; / But with its sound it shook the sails / That were so thin and sere.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · without moisture; dry. anhydrousaridbone drydroughty drydry as a boneexsuccousparched

Word family

Derived forms serelyserenesswood-sere

Etymology

From Middle English ser, sere, schere, seer, seere, seir, seyr, seyre (“different; diverse, various; distinct, individual; parted, separated; many, several”), from Old Norse sér (“for oneself; separately”, dative reflexive pronoun, literally “to oneself”), from sik (“oneself, myself, yourself, herself, himself; ourselves, yourselves, themselves”), from Proto-Germanic *sek (“oneself”), from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“self”). The English word is cognate with Danish sær (“singular”), især (“especially, particularly”), German sich (“oneself; herself, himself, itself; themselves”), Icelandic sig (“...

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# sere

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /sɪ(ə)ɹ/
**IPA (UK):** /sɪə/
**Frequency rank:** 66587

## Meanings
1. Without moisture; dry.
2. Of thoughts, etc.: barren, fruitless.
3. Of fabrics: threadbare, worn out.

## Examples
- The autumn winds rushing / Waft the leaves that are searest, / But our flower was in flushing, / When blighting was nearest.
- Our talk had been serious and sober, But our thoughts they were palsied and sere— Our memories were treacherous and sere—.
- The roaring wind! it roar'd far off, / It did not come anear; / But with its sound it shook the sails / That were so thin and sere.

## Synonyms
- anhydrous
- arid
- bone dry
- droughty
- dry
- dry as a bone
- exsuccous
- parched

## Derived Forms
- serely
- sereness
- wood-sere

## Etymology
From Middle English ser, sere, schere, seer, seere, seir, seyr, seyre (“different; diverse, various; distinct, individual; parted, separated; many, several”), from Old Norse sér (“for oneself; separately”, dative reflexive pronoun, literally “to oneself”), from sik (“oneself, myself, yourself, herself, himself; ourselves, yourselves, themselves”), from Proto-Germanic *sek (“oneself”), from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“self”). The English word is cognate with Danish sær (“singular”), især (“especially, particularly”), German sich (“oneself; herself, himself, itself; themselves”), Icelandic sig (“...

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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