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semiarid

semiarid

1 6.1
A climate or land with little rain but not as dry as a desert
  • adjective
  • /ˌsɛmiˈærɪd/
translation icon : semiárido
  • The interior Karoo region has a semitarid climate, with cold winters and hot summers, which bring occasional thunderstorms.
  • semiarid region
  • semiarid environment
  • semiarid plain

Examples

  • Since the region is either arid or semiarid, it is chronically short of continually available surface-water resources.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Sorghum is an indigenous African crop that grows in semiarid areas.

    Academic text (2008)
  • In semiarid regions on Earth, there are certain organisms... that live in small pools that are formed by the annual rains.

  • The wheat crop, grown mostly in semiarid northern China, is particularly vulnerable to water shortages.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Several of these pockets are in western, semiarid locations where the availability of locally grown seasonal fruits is restricted.

    Academic text (2003)
  • But arid and semiarid rangelands make up about 40 percent of the Earth's land surface.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The interior Karoo region has a semiarid climate, with cold winters and hot summers, which bring occasional thunderstorms.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Sixty million poor people depend on herding in semiarid rangelands that they share with large mammals and other wildlife.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Over the centuries, the Sukuma have adjusted to the precariousness of cultivation in a semiarid region.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Using irrigation water from Andean snowmelt, growers produce Mediterranean crops in this semiarid environment.

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

semidesert
vssemiarid
6.2

A dry area near a desert that has more rain and plants

focuses on low annual rainfall as a climate measure not on a border region
semi-dry
vssemiarid
3.8

Partly dry and still a little wet

indicates specifically low annual rainfall as a climate classification

Antonyms

45 1.0

Air that has a lot of water and feels damp

wet
1 1.0

A place or thing covered with liquid

How Dry

arid
19 4.0
semiarid
1 6.1
dry
791 1.0
moist
105 1.0
wet
1 1.0

Surface Forms

semiarid positive

Morphology

semiarid = arid (semi-transparent) = semi + arid

The word is built from the clear prefix 'semi-' plus 'arid', but the meaning is a graded extension rather than a fully literal combination.

Etymology

Semiarid comes from semi- meaning 'half' and arid meaning 'dry'. So a semiarid place is 'partly dry', drier than most areas but not as dry as a desert.