barren
5
7.4
- noun
- /ˈbɛrən/
:
yermo
- We hiked through a barren landscape where not a single plant could grow in the harsh conditions.
- pine barrens
Examples
-
In 1993, forest personnel decided to bring back the former barrens above Clover Lick Creek.
Academic text (1995) -
The vast barren stretched for miles, covered only by rocks and sand, with no signs of life.
-
About this time, most of the islanders were forced to move to Cape Barren Island.
Academic text (1995) -
Earlier, he had made sure to fill up every morning before crossing the barrens.
Fiction book (1999) -
Both are good places to encounter scrub oak barrens, the characteristic habitat of the region's highest elevations.
Academic text (2011) -
The old dirt roadway, which happens to serve as a boundary between the barrens and the sandstone-littered forest, provides a drainage corridor after heavy rains.
Academic text (1995) -
Tourists often visit the barren regions to see the unique ecosystems that survive despite the lack of vegetation.
Synonyms
894
1.3
A large dry area with very little rain and few plants
129
3.8
A natural area not changed by people and without people living there
61
7.5
A large empty area of land with little or no life
58
4.9
A large empty area of land with no plants or people
1
5.0
A very dry area of land with little or no plant life
1
5.1
Land that gets very little rain and has no irrigation
1
3.9
An area of land with little water and few plants
Antonyms
Compounds
- Specialized
A large Arctic deer that lives on the tundra and migrates long distances
A long-lived plant with deep roots that grows in dry sandy pine areas of the southeastern United States
How Habitable
Surface Forms
Etymology
Barrens as a noun simply names areas of land that cannot be farmed or lived on, and it comes from the adjective barren meaning 'not able to produce'. So the barrens are places that are 'uninhabited' and poor for growing things.