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as in bare
lacking a usual or natural covering trees that are bald in the winter aren't the best for giving a home year-round privacy

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective bald differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of bald are bare, barren, naked, and nude. While all these words mean "deprived of naturally or conventionally appropriate covering," bald implies actual or seeming absence of natural covering and may suggest a conspicuous bareness.

a bald mountain peak

When can bare be used instead of bald?

Although the words bare and bald have much in common, bare implies the removal of what is additional, superfluous, ornamental, or dispensable.

an apartment with bare walls

Where would barren be a reasonable alternative to bald?

In some situations, the words barren and bald are roughly equivalent. However, barren often suggests aridity or impoverishment or sterility.

barren plains

When might naked be a better fit than bald?

The words naked and bald are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, naked suggests absence of protective or ornamental covering but may imply a state of nature, of destitution, or of defenselessness.

poor half-naked children

When could nude be used to replace bald?

The synonyms nude and bald are sometimes interchangeable, but nude applies especially to the unclothed human figure.

a nude model posing for art students

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 bald Finding my bald community instilled in me a fresh perspective on life and helped reconstruct my sense of self. Shamsha Damani, Health, 13 June 2025 But few fan bases have gone the extra mile to put on bald caps, and Pitbull said he felt touched by seeing the special effort his fans put into their mimicry. Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 11 June 2025 Fans have thrown themselves into a viral fancy dress trend for his shows, donning black suits, bald caps and sunglasses and meeting up for flash mobs outside of the venues. Thomas Smith, Billboard, 11 June 2025 There are so many stereotypes and stigmas about what a cancer patient looks like—bald, weak, sickly. Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for bald
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bald
Adjective
  • Plums make their presence known along roadsides and in natural areas in spring when fragrant white blooms cover their bare branches.
    Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 27 June 2025
  • It’s been players like Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham and Ben Rice that have offered Judge the bare minimum necessary support to keep them in front of the AL East.
    Tony Blengino, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
Adjective
  • The simplest ideas in mathematics can also be the most perplexing.
    Leila Sloman, Wired News, 29 June 2025
  • Start your day like a pro with simple morning cleaning habits that keep your home feeling fresh, organized, and under control.
    Quincy Bulin, Southern Living, 28 June 2025
Adjective
  • But before checking for ripeness, start by inspecting the pineapple for any obvious signs of damage or spoilage, including bruising, soft spots, wrinkled skin, or dry, brown leaves.
    Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 22 June 2025
  • But Cate mentioned obvious areas of interest such as housing, infrastructure, regulations, taxes and fees, trade and the overall cost of living.
    Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 June 2025
Adjective
  • The west side of your house is more exposed, thus hotter than the east side.
    Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2025
  • Rifkin noticed some exposed brick in the back of the store.
    Robert Sullivan, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
Adjective
  • Uranus, Neptune and Saturn will also be in the sky, though the former two are impossible to see with the naked eye and the latter difficult.
    Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025
  • Most of them are still scary quick, skinny and now naked.
    Brian Truitt, USA Today, 20 June 2025
Adjective
  • The pattern is unmistakable: just as Enron triggered SOX, AI governance failures will trigger mandatory expertise requirements.
    Steven Wolfe Pereira, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
  • The symbolism of the decision to target this base—the same one that U.S. President Donald Trump visited only two months ago during his tour of Gulf states, and one located in a country that maintains close ties to and shares an offshore gas field with Iran—is unmistakable.
    Dana Stroul, Foreign Affairs, 23 June 2025
Adjective
  • The story itself is stripped to bone and sinew: a sleepy New England beach town that wants tourist dollars more than truth, an invisible killer in plain water, and three men — one scared sheriff, one cocky scientist, one Ahab of a fisherman — set adrift to settle nature’s score.
    Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 19 June 2025
  • The smug and sanctimonious tenor of their briefing makes that plain.
    Christie D’Zurilla, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2025
Adjective
  • Other Demographic Differences Women’s second fall persistence rate (79.3%) exceeded that of men (76.3%), continuing a trend that’s been apparent for several years.
    Michael T. Nietzel, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
  • Birdsong’s apparent beanball came in the exact time and place that the unwritten rules prescribe: two outs, bases empty, first pitch.
    Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 26 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Bald.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bald. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.

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