as in sparse
including only what is most basic or needed
a bare-bones website a bare-bones wedding ceremony The hotel rooms are bare-bones.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bare-bones
Where to stay By far the smartest place to stay in a town still dominated by bare-bones bolt-holes.
—
Chris Schalkx, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Mar. 2026
By 2016, discharges from Lake Okeechobee fueled another summer of toxic algal blooms, and a bare-bones nonprofit called Captains for Clean Water formed.
—Michael Adno, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2026
In Ray’s bare-bones house, spotless and white and lacking any of the familiar comforts that make Colin’s life with his parents so cozy, there is a guy who reads contemporary auto-fiction who needs little reading glasses to do so.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026
The old studio theater had a bare-bones lobby that could only be described as functional, with a temporary bar.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bare-bones
Chris Schalkx, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Mar. 2026
By 2016, discharges from Lake Okeechobee fueled another summer of toxic algal blooms, and a bare-bones nonprofit called Captains for Clean Water formed.
—Michael Adno, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2026
In Ray’s bare-bones house, spotless and white and lacking any of the familiar comforts that make Colin’s life with his parents so cozy, there is a guy who reads contemporary auto-fiction who needs little reading glasses to do so.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026
The old studio theater had a bare-bones lobby that could only be described as functional, with a temporary bar.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bare-bones
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bare-bones
Adjective
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The clean lines and walls in neutral or primary colors happen to adhere to the aesthetic values of the Bauhaus style, though for Morgan, sparse decoration is about something much simpler.—
Wendy Goodman,
Curbed,
21 Mar. 2026
-
In mid-January, NASA released imagery that showed sparse snow cover on the Rocky Mountains and Cascades — the lowest extent recorded for that date since satellite monitoring began in 2001.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
21 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Kodály’s Romanian Folk Dances, composed in 1915 for piano and arranged for orchestra two years later, occupy a mere six minutes.—
Scott Cantrell,
Dallas Morning News,
27 Mar. 2026
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China’s past glories may be recast as part of an extended narrative of dominance, and America’s eight-decade reign may come to be regarded as a mere blip.—
Ross Andersen,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Rivers has received some second-round buzz, despite his shorter-than-average stature.—
Mike Kaye
March 24,
Charlotte Observer,
24 Mar. 2026
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Woelfel says schools tend to have a greater focus on discipline than prevention – and also fall short on providing support to students after an incident.—
Alyssa Goldberg,
USA Today,
23 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The Mendocino County Tourism Commission notes that the region is remote with minimal signage and no cell service.—
Madison Dapcevich,
Outside,
23 Mar. 2026
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Its six-stream architecture supports multiple devices simultaneously and provides optimal coverage of up to 2,000 square feet with minimal dead zones.—
Juhi Wadia,
PC Magazine,
23 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bare-bones.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bare-bones. Accessed 29 Mar. 2026.
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