barren

UK/ˈbæɹən/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈbaɹən/

barren adjective: not bearing children, childless; hence also unable to bear children, sterile.

Adjective

barren (comparative barrener or more barren, superlative barrenest or most barren)

(not comparable) Not bearing children, childless; hence also unable to bear children, sterile.
- I silently wept as my daughter's husband rejected her. What would she do now that she was no longer a maiden but also barren?
- Forget not, in your speed, Antonius,
  To touch Calpurnia; for our elders say,
  The barren, touched in this holy chase,
  Shake off their sterile curse.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
(not comparable) Not bearing seed or fruit.
Of poor fertility, infertile; not producing vegetation; desert, waste.
- barren mountain tracts1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans...
- We have descended Tian Shan and entered the Taklamakan Desert, a barren landscape painted in ecru—no shrubs, no grass, only waves upon waves of naked ridges the color of buff, the highest few spotted with white specks of snow.2009, Y.J. Zhu, “Taklamakan Desert Moon Ride”, in Lucy McCauley, editor, The Best Women's Travel Writing 2009: True Stories from Around the World (Travelers' Tales), →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, →OL, page 154
(with-of) Devoid, lacking.
- August 28, 1731, Jonathan Swift, letter to John Gay
  But schemes are perfectly accidental. Some will appear barren of hints and matter, but prove to be fruitful.
Synonyms:

destitute, bereft
Devoid of interest or attraction, poor, bleak.
- As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.1922, Michael Arlen, “Epilogue Chapter IV”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, section 2
Unproductive, fruitless, unprofitable; empty, hollow, vain.
- brilliant but barren reveries1843, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico, […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Harper and Brothers, […], →OCLC
- A third is wroth: ‘Is this an hour
  ⁠For private sorrow’s barren song,
  ⁠When more and more the people throng
  The chairs and thrones of civil power?’1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 35
Synonyms:

idle
Mentally dull or unproductive; stupid or intellectually fallow.
- Set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...

Noun

barren (plural barrens)

An area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.
- Sol squinted out over the barrens to where the mountains shimmered in the heat haze.1990, Dan Simmons, The Fall of Hyperion, 1st edition, New York: Doubleday, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 165
(plural-normally) In particular, a usually elevated and flat expanse of land that only supports the growth of small trees and shrubs, and sometimes mosses or heathers, berries, and other marshy or moory vegetation, but little agriculture and few people.
- The pine barrens are a site lonely enough to suit any hermit.
- Snow Lies now four & five feet deep upon the Ground & the Air looks so Hazey that we think it Prudent to Return upon the Rocks & Barrens (for so they Call the Places where Wood does not Grow) we find that the wind had drifted the Snow Very thin Here we observe Some few Plants (1) Fir Moss...1971 [1766], Averil M. Lysaght, Joseph Banks in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1766: His Diary, Manuscripts, and Collections, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 121

barren meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

barren in Hindi

unable to bear children; sterile: बाँझ bāñjh
infertile: बाँझ bāñjh, अनुपजाऊ anupjāū

barren in Tamil

தரிசு, மலடான, வறட்சியான, வறண்ட, வளமற்ற, தரிசு நிலம்

barren in Urdu

بانجھ, چٹیل, خشک

More languagesFewer languages

barren in Bengali: বাঁজা bãja
barren in Telugu: గొడ్డు goḍḍu
barren in Malayalam: പാഴ് pāḻŭ
barren in Kannada: ಬರಡು, ಬರಲು, ಬಡ್ಡು, ಗೊಡ್ಡು
barren in Gujarati: ઊષર ūṣar
barren in Odia: ବାଞ୍ଝ bāñjha
barren in Sanskrit: वन्ध्य vandhya
barren in Sinhala: වඳ waⁿda
barren in Nepali: बाँझो bā̃jho
barren in Tagalog: kumil
barren in Malay: mandul
barren in Indonesian: tandus
barren in Persian: بیبر bībar, سترون setarvan, بیثمر bīsamar
barren in Thai: เป็นหมัน, กันดาร gan-daan

Examples of barren in a sentence

The druids […] believed that mistletoe could make barren animals fecund, and that it was an antidote to all poisons.2014 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25...
Terraforming even a barren planet often involves significant financial and ethical hurdles.2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Technology: Terraforming Codex...
Rooney had been suffered a barren spell for England with only one goal in 15 games but he was in no mood to ignore the gifts on offer in front of an increasingly subdued Bulgarian support.2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC:
Here it was now, by the side of a Swamp in the Barrens of Newfoundland, threadbare, wet, dirty.1968 (originally written: 1794), Aaron Thomas, The Newfoundland Journal of Aaron Thomas, page 104

All 40 example sentences with barren

Synonyms of barren

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of barren

Forms of barren

Adjective
comparative	barrener
comparative	more barren
superlative	barrenest
superlative	most barren
Noun
plural	barrens

Origin of barren

From Middle English bareyne, from Anglo-Norman baraigne, baraing (“sterile; barren”), of obscure origin; probably from a Germanic language, perhaps Frankish *baʀ (“bare; barren”), from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“bare”). If so, a cognate of English bare.

Words formed from barren

Phrases with barren

Words that rhyme with barren

Questions about barren

What does barren mean?: Barren means not bearing children, childless; hence also unable to bear children, sterile.
What is barren in Hindi?: Barren in Hindi is बाँझ (bāñjh), अनुपजाऊ (anupjāū). See Barren meaning in Hindi.
How do you use barren in a sentence?: The druids […] believed that mistletoe could make barren animals fecund, and that it was an antidote to all poisons.
What part of speech is barren?: Barren can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce barren?: Barren is pronounced /ˈbæɹən/ (UK).

Words near barren in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-barren.ogg.

Cite this entry: “barren.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/barren. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.