Definition of baldnext
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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 Patrick, mostly bald on top, has longer hair extensions, too, given that his character, Paul’s adviser and friend Gurney Halleck, has been in exile as well. — Kyle MacLachlan, HollywoodReporter, 29 Sep. 2026 The bald guy lecturing me on how to get the money looked real enough, but the question of his true being kept rattling around my increasingly paranoid mind. — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2026 LeBron James debuted a new bald look and sounded ready to get to work as the Philadelphia 76ers held their first Media Day since signing the NBA's leading scorer. — Joe Brandt, CBS News, 28 Sep. 2026 Nobody was hurt, Ferguson said, though the man responsible for the mistake did lose his hairpiece in the blast, unveiling his bald head. — Liam Rappleye, Freep.com, 10 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for bald
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bald
Adjective
  • If a cool room and bare feet work for you, don’t change anything.
    — Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Oct. 2026
  • It's also laid bare the downsides of depending on a single provider for satellite internet communications, though other options are not yet comparable to SpaceX's Starlink and its military-grade Starshield offering.
    — Annie Palmer,Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • The actor wore a long black leather coat over a simple black tank, paired with straight-leg blue jeans cinched with a leather belt.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The company played with flexible workdays instead of rigid schedules, clearer windows for collaboration, simpler rules for meetings, better ways to share and document work, and more intentional reasons for coming together in person.
    — Deborah Lovich, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • Aside from obvious fixes like leaking ceilings and sagging floors, the layout, which was chopped up into a warren of tight quarters, needed a full gut to allow the space to breathe and gain more light.
    — Juliet Izon, Architectural Digest, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The best way to alleviate the pressure, therefore, is not to wait on a return but to avoid stringing together so many obvious passing downs that allow the edge rushers to tee off.
    — Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 27 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • The end result would be a gassy surface shining as brightly as a more exposed black hole but with the Balmer break and smooth red hump of a 5,000-kelvin star, de Graaff and Naidu theorized.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Morgan Stanley said Equinix and Digital Realty are less exposed because their facilities average roughly 5 to 10 megawatts, far below the gigawatt-scale AI campuses planned by hyperscalers and neocloud operators.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Inside the spa, which costs $85 to enter, visitors will find saunas as hot as 220 degrees, cold-plunge pools, steam rooms and banya treatments that whisk naked bodies with oak leaves and essential oils.
    — Maddie Connors, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
  • While Debicki needed a moment to grapple with the sight of a naked wicker man, Colman’s reaction mirrored her character falling in love at first sight.
    — Isabelle Farina, Variety, 25 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • The subtle, but unmistakable, undercurrent of apple sweetness struck me as a bit of a magic trick in a bread that, otherwise, to the eye and hand was just a soft white loaf.
    — Noah Kaufman, Bon Appetit Magazine, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The vamp features an unmistakable signature of the Italian house, a horsebit.
    — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 20 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • Purchase pre-peeled garlic cloves in bulk or peel the garlic cloves yourself using the flat side of a large knife to mash them slightly and then peel off the skins.
    — Jenavieve Christensen, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Feb. 2026
  • Use pre-peeled carrots or bagged baby carrots to save prep time.
    — Renu Dhar, Southern Living, 24 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • On the fall 2026 runways, romantic clothes arrived styled like everything else in your closet—a lace skirt with a cotton shirt, a gown with a combat boot, a ruffled collar over plain velvet trousers—and the shift is visible on the street too.
    — Laurence Goldberg, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Refrigerated tortellini is one of the fastest ways to turn plain broth into a satiating, delicious meal.
    — Danielle Bouchard, Martha Stewart, 24 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Bald.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bald. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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