: 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
Roomy Khan, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Once in Panama, the deportees were detained in hotel rooms in the capital and later in a bare-bones jungle camp, barred from access to phones, lawyers, media, and medical care.
—Whitney Eulich, Christian Science Monitor, 21 Apr. 2025
Marcus J. Moore, Time, 9 Apr. 2025
To this crew, almost no amount of demolition is too much, since their endgame is a bare bones, federal government taking its solely from the president.
—Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bare-bones
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Adjective
Even with state-level legalization and proper licensing, most are relegated to bare-bones banking.
—Roomy Khan, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Once in Panama, the deportees were detained in hotel rooms in the capital and later in a bare-bones jungle camp, barred from access to phones, lawyers, media, and medical care.
—Whitney Eulich, Christian Science Monitor, 21 Apr. 2025
Plural noun
Where other popular songs felt oversized and celebratory, Legend’s tune was bare bones, just raw vocals and real talk about the perils of romantic love.
—Marcus J. Moore, Time, 9 Apr. 2025
To this crew, almost no amount of demolition is too much, since their endgame is a bare bones, federal government taking its solely from the president.
—Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 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 May. 2025.
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