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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of barren
Jeremy Lybarger, ARTnews.com, 26 Mar. 2025
Meanwhile, the patch of skin to the ’22 trophy’s left looks almost barren.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 25 Mar. 2025
Mass Effect's core loop doesn't benefit from huge barren landscapes that are devoid of detail.
—Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 25 Mar. 2025
While a prince’s kiss isn’t expected to revive Snow White at the box office, parents and young girls could give her a little lift in a barren spring break marketplace.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 23 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for barren
Adjective
Charlie Parker’s Favorite Painting (1946) indicates Abercrombie’s engagement with social issues: a yellow noose, nearly fluorescent against a dishwater sky, dangles from a barren tree—an oblique lament from the doggedly antiracist Abercrombie.
—Jeremy Lybarger, ARTnews.com, 26 Mar. 2025
Meanwhile, the patch of skin to the ’22 trophy’s left looks almost barren.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 25 Mar. 2025
Mass Effect's core loop doesn't benefit from huge barren landscapes that are devoid of detail.
—Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 25 Mar. 2025
While a prince’s kiss isn’t expected to revive Snow White at the box office, parents and young girls could give her a little lift in a barren spring break marketplace.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 23 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for barren
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barren
Adjective
-
The Memphis rapper began the show with dramatics, rising on a giant platform with her back to the audience as a screen behind her projected the image of a desolate street.—
John Lonsdale,
Rolling Stone,
12 Apr. 2025
-
The food and atmosphere had people from across the city willing to venture to a desolate stretch of Bushwick.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Avoid sterile, clinical environments that can be intimidating.—
Ajay Prasad,
Forbes,
21 Mar. 2025
-
The Pitt is set in Pittsburgh, not Chicago, and the season unfolds in real time, with overlapping crises ratcheting up tension as the cast careens around the sterile white set.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
But the Supreme Court denied the court order and requests to President Donald Trump from family, supporters and her attorney were unsuccessful.—
Nicole Acosta,
People.com,
19 Apr. 2025
-
Meanwhile, Min and Chris’ closest friends, Kelly Marie Tran’s Angela, a research scientist, and Lily Gladstone’s Lee, an Indigenous community organizer, have been struggling to conceive a child; Lee has just found out that her second round of IVF has been unsuccessful.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
18 Apr. 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 holiday commemorates the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt, including their 40-year journey through the desert.—
Marc Levy,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Apr. 2025
-
Zedd brought his friends with him to the desert.—
Tomás Mier,
Rolling Stone,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Criminal justice scholars say that when scores based on immutable facts are weighted so heavily in parole decisions, prisoners from impoverished, racially segregated communities are more likely to be hurt.—
Richard A. Webster,
ProPublica,
10 Apr. 2025
-
The once-vacant lot across the street from her childhood playground on Washington Avenue is now home to Wilcox Academy, an early learning center that represents a powerful investment in a historically impoverished community.—
Raymond Pierce,
Forbes.com,
2 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Regardless, returning him would be futile, said the president’s aides, as his ultimate fate would be imprisonment, in the United States or elsewhere.—
Michael Wilner,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2025
-
Another recommendation: Attacking Trump’s character, however abhorrent critics may find it, is futile.—
Garry Kasparov,
The Atlantic,
17 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
However, the void years tacked onto it made Smith difficult to keep around, and the Lions ultimately parted ways.—
Colton Pouncy,
New York Times,
11 Apr. 2025
-
For the first time in its 157-year history, the Grand National steeplechase is declared void because of a false start.—
Iliana Limón Romero,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Barren.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barren. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share