A barren landscape is dry and bare, and has very few plants and no trees.
...the country's landscape of high barren mountains.
Synonyms: desolate, empty, desert, bare More Synonyms of barren
2. adjective
Barren land consists of soil that is so poor that plants cannot grow in it.
He also wants to use the water to irrigate barren desert land.
Synonyms: unproductive, dry, useless, sterile More Synonyms of barren
3. adjective
If you describe something such as an activity or a period of your life as barren, you mean that you achieve no success during it or that it has no useful results.
[written]
...politics that are banal and barren of purpose. [+ of]
...the player, who ended a 14-month barren spell by winning the Tokyo event in October.
As the leaves of autumn wither and fall, so has my own life become barren.
barrennessuncountable noun [oft NOUNof noun]
...a film that would force audiences to confront the barrenness of contemporary life.
4. adjective
If you describe a room or a place as barren, you do not like it because it has almost no furniture or other objects in it.
[written, disapproval]
The room was austere, nearly barren of furniture or decoration. [+ of]
Six stale loaves of brown bread formed a dark blot on the otherwise barren shelves.
Synonyms: empty [informal], clear, vacant, void More Synonyms of barren
5. adjective
A barren woman or female animal is unable to have babies.
[old-fashioned]
He prayed that his barren wife would one day have a child.
...a three-year-old barren mare.
Synonyms: infertile, sterile, unproductive, nonproductive More Synonyms of barren
barrennessuncountable noun
More Synonyms of barren
barren in British English
(ˈbærən)
adjective
1.
incapable of producing offspring, seed, or fruit; sterile
a barren tree
2.
unable to support the growth of crops, etc; unproductive; bare
barren land
3.
lacking in stimulation or ideas; dull
a rather barren play
4.
not producing worthwhile results; unprofitable
a barren period in a writer's life
5. (foll by of)
totally lacking (in); devoid (of)
his speech was barren of wit
6.
(of rock strata) having no fossils
Derived forms
barrenly (ˈbarrenly)
adverb
barrenness (ˈbarrenness)
noun
Word origin
C13: from Old French brahain, of uncertain origin
barren in American English
(ˈbærən; ˈbɛrən)
adjective
1.
that cannot produce offspring; sterile
a barren woman
2.
not bearing or pregnant at the regular time
said of animals or plants
3.
not producing crops or fruit; having little or no vegetation
barren soil
4.
not bringing useful results; unproductive; unprofitable
a barren plan
5.
lacking appeal, interest, or meaning; dull; boring
6.
empty; devoid
barren of creative spirit
noun
7.
an area of unproductive land
8. [usually pl.]
land with poor soil and very few shrubs, trees, etc.
SIMILAR WORDS: bare, ˈsterile
Derived forms
barrenly (ˈbarrenly)
adverb
barrenness (ˈbarrenness)
noun
Word origin
ME barain < OFr baraigne, brehaigne, orig. used of land
Examples of 'barren' in a sentence
barren
What remains is a dry and barren land which can turn rapidly to desert.
The Sun (2008)
That was all too evident in a barren first period.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Interesting commentaries pepper our journey through this barren landscape.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
But the barren landscape was wide open.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Their delivery into the world will be a defiant affirmation of life in this remote and barren desert.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
They included pictures of terrified young men piled into the back of lorries and driven to a barren patch of land.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The aggressor becomes the victim, the city becomes a barren planet.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
For those savers, the barren periods in between winnings are about to get longer.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
There were three neglected, distressed dogs tied up with chains on barren land in direct sunlight.
The Sun (2016)
During this barren period no one was safe from the owner's wrath.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Look at the nests of ants, how around them the land is barren.
Tepper, Sheri S. A Plague of Angels (1993)
The landscape was barren and featureless, a bruised mix of yellow earth and salted vineyards.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
A barren woman was deemed to live under a curse.
Jackson, Rosie Mothers who Leave (1994)
Historically, practical and financial support to meet the housing needs of vulnerable people has had relatively golden and barren periods.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
With all due respect to the great man, their criticism would be a dry and barren thing if they tried to follow his advice.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
You shall cross the barren desert, But you shall not die of thirst.
Davey, Ray Rev. & Cole, John A Channel of Peace (1993)
It's a difficult place to be - the desert is incredibly barren and dusty.
The Sun (2011)
Britain is, thankfully, an ideologically barren land.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
There are fears that Mediterranean holiday destinations will become barren deserts, too hot for tourists or agriculture.
The Sun (2007)
What with all its offices and tower blocks, I happen to find it breathtakingly barren and rather miserable.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In other languages
barren
British English: barren ADJECTIVE
A barren landscape is dry and bare, and has very few plants and no trees.
...the country's landscape of high barren mountains.
American English: barren
Brazilian Portuguese: estéril
Chinese: 荒芜的
European Spanish: árido
French: aride
German: unfruchtbar
Italian: arido
Japanese: 不毛の
Korean: 불모의
European Portuguese: estéril
Latin American Spanish: árido
All related terms of 'barren'
Barren Lands
→ the Barren Lands
Barren Grounds
→ another name for Barren Lands
barren landscape
The landscape is everything you can see when you look across an area of land, including hills , rivers , buildings, trees, and plants.
barren strawberry
a Eurasian plant, Potentilla sterilis , related to the strawberry that does not produce edible fruit
Cape Barren goose
a greyish Australian goose , Cereopsis novaehollandiae , having a black bill with a greenish cere
the Barren Lands
a region of tundra in N Canada, extending westwards from Hudson Bay : sparsely inhabited , chiefly by Inuit
Chinese translation of 'barren'
barren
(ˈbærən)
adj
(= infertile)[land]不毛的 (bùmáo de)
(= bare)[landscape]贫(貧)瘠的 (pínjí de)
(fig)[spell, patch]无(無)成效的 (wú chéngxiào de)
1 (adjective)
the Tibetan landscape of the high barren mountains
Synonyms
desolate
a desolate, barren place
empty
The room was bare and empty.
desert
the desert wastes of Mexico
bare
a bare landscape
waste
Yarrow can be found growing wild on waste ground.
2 (adjective)
Definition
unable to support the growth of crops, fruit, etc.
He also wants to use water to irrigate barren desert land.
Synonyms
unproductive
They are aware much of their time and effort is unproductive.
dry
useless
He realised that their money was useless in this country.
sterile
Too much time has been wasted in sterile debate.
fruitless
arid
the arid zones of the country
unprofitable
an endless, unprofitable argument
unfruitful
unprolific
Opposites
rich
,
useful
,
profitable
,
productive
,
fertile
,
lush
,
fruitful
,
fecund
,
profitable
,
productive
3 (adjective)
Definition
dull
My life has become barren.
Synonyms
dull
They can both be rather dull.
boring
boring television programmes
commonplace
The practice was virtually unheard of twenty years ago, but has now become commonplace.
tedious
the tedious business of line-by-line programming
dreary
They live such dreary lives.
stale
lacklustre
his party's lacklustre performance during the election campaign
monotonous
It's monotonous work, like most factory jobs.
uninspiring
Her speech on the economy was uninspiring.
humdrum
trapped in a humdrum but well-paid job
uninteresting
Why did he choose these pale, nerveless, uninteresting people?
vapid
The conversation was vapid and uninteresting.
unrewarding
as dry as dust
Opposites
interesting
,
instructive
4 (adjective)
one loaf of bread on the otherwise barren shelves
Synonyms
empty (informal)
Never drink on an empty stomach.
clear
All exits must be kept clear in case of fire.
vacant
They came upon a vacant house.
void
unfilled
5 (adjective)
Definition
incapable of producing offspring
(old-fashioned)
a three-year-old barren mare
Synonyms
infertile
The waste is dumped, making the surrounding land infertile.