Unfertile, unproductive, barren.

Producing scantily; barren, unproductive; exhausted. Const. in Old English with genitive or on; later of. Also, clear of.

Not favourable or beneficial; harmful, injurious; unhealthy, unwholesome; damaging to; unsuitable for. In later use esp. of soil, land, etc. (chiefly…

Of land: Producing little or no vegetation; not fertile, sterile, unproductive, bare. So of mines, etc.

Producing no fruit; unfruitful. Obsolete.

Of soil, ore, land, etc.: yielding little, unproductive. Also figurative.

Wanting in rich elements or qualities. Said, e.g. of soils, limestone, †water, etc. Now rare except in various technical senses.

Meagre, scanty; (of soil) of poor quality, barren; (of a religious foundation, a benefice) poorly endowed.

Impregnated with or containing salt; hence, having a taste like that of salt; saline. Of tracts of land, marshes: Flooded by the sea. (See also salt…

Of ground or seasons: Not yielding fruit or crops; unfertile, unproductive.

Of soil, a country, occasionally of a period of time: unproductive of vegetation.

Devoid of ‘life’ or living organisms; hence, barren, infertile, yielding nothing. (Cf. B. 4.)

Of land: not in good condition for growing crops. Obsolete.

Of ground: boggy, swampy; unstable; liable to give way (see queachy, adj. 1). Also figurative. Now chiefly U.S.

Of land or soil: without fertility; sterile, barren. Cf. heart, n. 18a. Now rare.

(un-, prefix1 affix 1.)

Emaciated; also transferred of soils, exhausted, impoverished.

Of soil: Dry, without moisture; also barren, unproductive.

Incapable of generating or producing offspring; infertile, barren; (later more generally) not producing many offspring. Also: tending to inhibit or…

Irresponsive to culture. Obsolete.

transferred. Of soil, trees, etc.: Not responding to cultivation.

Of land: Spent, exhausted, no longer fertile.

Barren, sterile; spec. not producing grain or fruit.

Of land, crops, etc.: not significantly productive; yielding little or nothing.

Somewhat poor (in various senses); rather poor.

Having bad ‘conditions’ or qualities; of an evil disposition; in a bad condition or state. In Geometry, applied to a triangle which has very unequal…

Parsimonious. Of soil: Yielding little. Obsolete.

Of earth, soil, etc.: infertile; hard and stony; gravelly, rubbly; composed of loosely mixed clay, sand, and gravel. Cf. rammel, n.1 3.

Of land: that produces poor crops, starved. Also figurative.