1
as in desolate
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
if tobacco fields aren't allowed to lie idle once every few years, they will become barren
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sterile
not able to produce fruit or offspring
the pear tree appears to be barren
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in unsuccessful
producing no results
that line of investigation proved barren, so the police tried other avenues
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in devoid
utterly lacking in something needed, wanted, or expected
their proposal for revitalizing the downtown business district is utterly barren of useful ideas
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in desert
land that is uninhabited or not fit for crops
lived out in the barrens where it was impossible to grow anything
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of barren
Carl Anka, New York Times, 2 July 2025
The jetliner heading to Nairobi lost control shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and nose-dived into a barren patch of land.
—arkansasonline.com, 13 July 2025
Bandits, raiders, and more monsters crawl the barren landscape.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 July 2025
However, planting vegetation under solar panels—as opposed to the more traditional method of siting solar arrays on somewhat barren land—can help cool them.
—Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for barren
Adjective
Tracking his goals compared with his xG across a 900-minute rolling average, there have been some barren spells — with a seven-game goalless run in August 2024, as well as an eight-match run at the start of the 2022-23 season.
—Carl Anka, New York Times, 2 July 2025
The jetliner heading to Nairobi lost control shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and nose-dived into a barren patch of land.
—arkansasonline.com, 13 July 2025
Bandits, raiders, and more monsters crawl the barren landscape.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 July 2025
However, planting vegetation under solar panels—as opposed to the more traditional method of siting solar arrays on somewhat barren land—can help cool them.
—Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for barren
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barren
Adjective
-
Padam and Tulsi, whose remote Himalayan village has become increasingly desolate as families migrate to cities, leaving the pair to wonder who will perform their last rites.—
Variety Staff,
Variety,
25 July 2025
-
Imagine how desolate the Democrats are that a Democrat running on affordability is an anti-establishment Democrat.—
Ted Reed,
Forbes.com,
16 July 2025
Adjective
-
Back then, 600 million sterile flies were released each week, the NYT explains, and the fly was eliminated.—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
People.com,
28 July 2025
-
This facility will have the capability to disperse sterile flies in Northern Mexico.—
Mandy Taheri
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
Roughly 45 seconds later, Van der Walt tried to add hot air to the envelope and close the rapid deflation valve but was unsuccessful, according to the report.—
Perry Vandell,
AZCentral.com,
25 July 2025
-
Although a request for proposals for a new company to run the facility drew interest from at least two companies, neither ended up completing the process to submit a proposal and efforts to reach out to other companies have so far been unsuccessful, Hyde said.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
25 July 2025
Adjective
-
Banking has become functionally correct but emotionally devoid, with the industry swimming in a sea of sameness.—
Michael Abbott,
Forbes,
19 Mar. 2025
-
Delle, devoid for so long from its intrinsic need for social interaction might be filling in the gaps by talking to himself.—
Mack DeGeurin,
Popular Science,
14 Feb. 2023
Noun
-
The athletic brand revealed the new design in October 2023 with a video in which Bernie marches across desert terrain in a cowboy outfit while Bad Bunny narrates in Spanish.—
Catherine Santino,
People.com,
29 July 2025
-
Today’s ultra-secure sanctuaries are being built not just beneath remote ranches or desert compounds, but under some of the world’s most elite estates.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
29 July 2025
Adjective
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Miss Lonelyhearts—who is actually a man—is an advice columnist receiving letters from people who are impoverished, in despair, and surrounded by an atmosphere of moral depravity and incipient fascism.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
16 July 2025
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Some of the city's most impoverished communities also wrestle with the highest rates of afflictions like heart disease, and research suggests more tree canopy and green spaces can reduce these risks, in addition to benefiting stress levels and general quality of life.—
Connor Giffin,
The Courier-Journal,
3 July 2025
Adjective
-
Go with the flow, but not toward the beach: Trying to swim directly toward the beach when caught in a rip current is futile and exhausting.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
6 July 2025
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This group saw military responses as futile, as Iran was assumed to have escalation dominance.—
JAMES JEFFREY,
Foreign Affairs,
4 July 2025
Adjective
-
The New Avengers), David Harbour’s Red Guardian saves a little girl only for the villain to disappear her into a dark void seconds later.—
Eliana Dockterman,
Time,
25 July 2025
-
Ingold is a prime candidate to fill any leadership void.—
David Furones,
Sun Sentinel,
22 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Barren.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barren. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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