: including only what is most basic or necessary
a bare-bones email program
Skyscrapers of steel hung with curtain walls of glass, these sleek buildings were impressive monuments to bare-bones architectural integrity.—
C. A. Mills
C. A. Mills
: the barest essentials, facts, or elements
the bare bones of her life
Examples of bare-bones in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 28 Sep. 2025
During the 2018 shutdown, some 80 percent of Park Service employees were furloughed; however, many of the country’s most iconic parks remained open, managed by a bare-bones crew.
—Owen Clarke, Outside, 26 Sep. 2025
Stewart Patrick, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2025
Currently, the space is bare bones and still being built.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bare-bones
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Adjective
The only sign of him having made this lonely place a home beyond bare-bones essentials is a patch of delicate white flowers that give the film its title, later revealed to be the same bloom cultivated by his father.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 28 Sep. 2025
During the 2018 shutdown, some 80 percent of Park Service employees were furloughed; however, many of the country’s most iconic parks remained open, managed by a bare-bones crew.
—Owen Clarke, Outside, 26 Sep. 2025
Plural noun
Beyond endangering liberal principles domestically, these trends are likely to accelerate the rise of illiberal multilateralism, a bare bones international order shaped and even dominated by authoritarian great powers.
—Stewart Patrick, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2025
Currently, the space is bare bones and still being built.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bare-bones
Cite this Entry
“Bare-bones.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bare-bones. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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