1
as in desolate
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
if tobacco fields aren't allowed to lie idle once every few years, they will become barren
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sterile
not able to produce fruit or offspring
the pear tree appears to be barren
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in unsuccessful
producing no results
that line of investigation proved barren, so the police tried other avenues
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in devoid
utterly lacking in something needed, wanted, or expected
their proposal for revitalizing the downtown business district is utterly barren of useful ideas
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in desert
land that is uninhabited or not fit for crops
lived out in the barrens where it was impossible to grow anything
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of barren
Jake Cole, IndieWire, 18 Aug. 2025
But there was no plan for anyone to buy the property, which remains barren, is used to store Department of Public Works vehicles and is no longer available for purchase on the city's website, according to the defense's memorandum.
—Christina Hall, Freep.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Since then, the Space to Grow program has turned 36 barren yards at public schools across Chicago into green community hubs; five more redesign projects are breaking ground this summer.
—Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2025
One hundred years to the month had passed since a 23-year-old postdoc named Werner Heisenberg was driven by a case of hay fever to Helgoland, a barren, windswept island in the North Sea.
—Quanta Magazine, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for barren
Adjective
Just as Thompson saw something of the end of the hippie dream in the barren stretches of Southwest sand, so too did many of the American films most explicitly concerned with the collapse of ’60s idealism take place in the country’s deserts.
—Jake Cole, IndieWire, 18 Aug. 2025
But there was no plan for anyone to buy the property, which remains barren, is used to store Department of Public Works vehicles and is no longer available for purchase on the city's website, according to the defense's memorandum.
—Christina Hall, Freep.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Since then, the Space to Grow program has turned 36 barren yards at public schools across Chicago into green community hubs; five more redesign projects are breaking ground this summer.
—Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2025
One hundred years to the month had passed since a 23-year-old postdoc named Werner Heisenberg was driven by a case of hay fever to Helgoland, a barren, windswept island in the North Sea.
—Quanta Magazine, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for barren
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barren
Adjective
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Silksong is steeped in religious imagery — desolate chapels, ringing church bells, even rosary beads that act as in-game currency.—
Keller Gordon,
NPR,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Her haunting soprano ranged from desolate whispers to expansive belts.—
Audrey Gibbs,
Nashville Tennessean,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The sterile cockpit rule prohibits pilots from engaging in conversations unrelated to operating the aircraft when flying below 10,000 feet.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
10 Sep. 2025
-
These aren’t sterile operations run by committees.—
Joel Goldstein,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The new complaint was filed 20 years after Burrowes first claimed in an unsuccessful civil case that Combs may have put out a hit on Shakur and Knight.—
Gina Barton,
USA Today,
7 Sep. 2025
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All have been unsuccessful due to his status as a suspect in multiple violent crimes.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Banking has become functionally correct but emotionally devoid, with the industry swimming in a sea of sameness.—
Michael Abbott,
Forbes,
19 Mar. 2025
-
That devoid ingredient hindered things exponentially.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
15 Feb. 2024
Noun
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Over nearly four decades in the desert, Matzner donated more than $85 million to local nonprofits and helped the festival become an important stop on the Hollywood awards circuit.—
Pat Saperstein,
Variety,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Yet nearly 2,000 miles away, in one of America’s deserts, lives were reborn.—
Suzette Hackney,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Shooting scenes in wide or medium shots that sometimes break into Hsiao-Lee’s harrowing point-of-view, cinematographer Yu Jing-Pin depicts a world without much color or hope, while sets by Huang Mei-Ching and Tu Shuo-Feng emphasize a sad and impoverished existence.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Sep. 2025
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Each serves a high rate of students from impoverished households, and families within the schools' boundaries can choose to attend those schools or receive a bus to a second school option based on their address.—
Krista Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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And, perhaps most dangerous still, these dreams of modernity shine an unwanted light on the futile hardship of the family’s status quo.—
Adam Solomons,
IndieWire,
4 Sep. 2025
-
This alternating strategy is futile.—
Wesley Alexander Hill,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Ballentine has experience at gunner, where the Patriots have a void opposite Brenden Schooler.—
Doug Kyed,
Boston Herald,
7 Sep. 2025
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Only the Atlanta Falcons are set to spend less cash on players than their cap tally represents, according to Over the Cap’s math, while 26 teams have already agreed to deals that spread bonus money beyond the length of a player’s contract through what are called void years.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Barren.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barren. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
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