1
as in sterile
not able to produce fruit or offspring
an infertile cow is of limited use to a farmer
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in barren
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
only parched, infertile fields remained after months of drought
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 infertile
Historical and literary sources document infertile men knowingly encouraging their wives to take lovers to ensure offspring, for example.
—
Byandrew Curry, science.org, 6 Mar. 2025
After these infernos, invasive grasses often took over in hardened, infertile soils.
—Pamela McElwee, The Conversation, 28 Apr. 2025
One in six people globally are infertile, however fertility treatments—including IVF—remain underfunded and inaccessible thanks largely to high costs and time-consuming treatment.
—Pamela Jew, Forbes.com, 15 Apr. 2025
The move would be to the island's infertile interior, which was left uninhabitable due to extensive phosphate mining from the 1900s onwards, which was exported for fertilizer for about 100 years.
—Alex Ledsom, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for infertile
Byandrew Curry, science.org, 6 Mar. 2025
After these infernos, invasive grasses often took over in hardened, infertile soils.
—Pamela McElwee, The Conversation, 28 Apr. 2025
One in six people globally are infertile, however fertility treatments—including IVF—remain underfunded and inaccessible thanks largely to high costs and time-consuming treatment.
—Pamela Jew, Forbes.com, 15 Apr. 2025
The move would be to the island's infertile interior, which was left uninhabitable due to extensive phosphate mining from the 1900s onwards, which was exported for fertilizer for about 100 years.
—Alex Ledsom, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for infertile
Recent Examples of Synonyms for infertile
Adjective
-
Back then, 600 million sterile flies were released each week, the NYT explains, and the fly was eliminated.—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
People.com,
28 July 2025
-
This facility will have the capability to disperse sterile flies in Northern Mexico.—
Mandy Taheri
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
Then there is Canada and Greenland’s beef over the uninhabited Hans Island, a barren spit in the Kennedy Channel.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
25 July 2025
-
Brown, barren, patchy spots in your lawn can be unsightly.—
Cody Godwin,
USA Today,
24 July 2025
Adjective
-
Padam and Tulsi, whose remote Himalayan village has become increasingly desolate as families migrate to cities, leaving the pair to wonder who will perform their last rites.—
Variety Staff,
Variety,
25 July 2025
-
Imagine how desolate the Democrats are that a Democrat running on affordability is an anti-establishment Democrat.—
Ted Reed,
Forbes.com,
16 July 2025
Adjective
-
Will parts of Norway look like Nauru, a formerly lush tropical paradise stripped of its phosphate rock, and now a barren, impoverished cautionary tale?—
Suwanna Gauntlett Upjohn,
Forbes.com,
21 July 2025
-
Likewise, food stamps are still going to be provided to the disabled, families with young children, and the impoverished elderly, even if Democrats want to pretend otherwise.—
Frank Miele,
The Orlando Sentinel,
20 July 2025
Adjective
-
Spurred by climate change, Canadian wildfires have increasingly exacerbated poor air quality across Milwaukee and southern Wisconsin.—
Maia Pandey,
jsonline.com,
24 July 2025
-
Cocoa prices have more than doubled over the past two years due to poor weather and disease in West Africa, which supplies more than 70% of the world’s cocoa.—
Dee-Ann Durbin,
Chicago Tribune,
23 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Infertile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infertile. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share