barren

barren — adjective

1. so poor or dry that land grows almost nothing, or a plant bears no fruit or seed

1.adjectiveC2
Definition

so poor or dry that land grows almost nothing, or a plant bears no fruit or seeds

Example

After years of overgrazing, the hillside turned barren and gray.

change-of-state: turned barren

Barren soil covered the yard behind the abandoned mining camp.

collocation: barren soil

Common collocations
  • barren land
  • barren soil
  • barren field
  • barren tree
  • barren landscape
Synonyms
  • arid

    stresses lack of rain more than poor growth

  • infertile

    is more technical for soil that does not produce crops well

  • sterile

    is more formal and can suggest a lifeless environment

  • desolate

    adds a feeling of emptiness or sadness to the scene

Antonyms
  • fertile

    means land supports strong plant growth

  • lush

    suggests rich, green plant life

  • productive

    focuses on useful crop output

Grammar Patterns

barren land

barren soil

a barren tree

become barren

Usage Note

Usually describes land, fields, hills, or gardens. With plants or trees, it means they do not bear fruit or seeds.

Common Mistakes

The living room looked barren because it had no chairs.
The living room looked bare because it had no chairs.
barren is mainly for land, plants, or broader figurative uses, not ordinary furniture.
The desert is barrenly hot.
The desert is barren and hot.
barren is an adjective, not an adverb.

2. unable to have babies or animal offspring

2.adjectiveC2
Definition

unable to have babies or animal offspring

Example

The vet confirmed that the mare was barren after the illness.

pattern: be barren

Villagers sold the barren goat because it never produced a kid.

collocation: barren goat

Common collocations
  • barren mare
  • barren goat
  • barren queen
  • be barren
  • be called barren
Synonyms
  • infertile

    is the usual neutral modern word, especially for people

  • sterile

    sounds more medical or technical

  • childless

    means without children, but not always because of inability

Antonyms
  • fertile

    means able to produce babies or young

Grammar Patterns

be barren

a barren mare

be called barren

Usage Note

Commoner for animals than for people. In human contexts it can sound old-fashioned, literary, or offensive; infertile is usually the safer modern word.

Common Mistakes

The doctor said she was barren
The doctor said she was infertile.
in modern medical English, infertile is more neutral and appropriate for people.
The dry season made the cows barren land.
The dry season left the land barren.' / 'The cows became barren after the disease.
this sense describes animals or people, not the ground.

3. producing no fresh ideas, useful work, or worthwhile result

3.adjectiveC2
Definition

producing no fresh ideas, useful work, or worthwhile result

Example

Weeks of barren talks ended with the same broken fence.

collocation: barren talks

The lab had a barren year, discovering nothing after three trials.

time period with no result

Common collocations
  • barren talks
  • barren year
  • barren effort
  • barren imagination
  • barren debate
Synonyms
  • fruitless

    strongly stresses that no useful result came

  • unproductive

    is the broader and more everyday choice

  • sterile

    is more formal and often used for ideas or discussion

  • empty

    can suggest lack of content, but is less precise about results

Antonyms
  • fruitful

    means it leads to useful ideas or results

  • productive

    is the everyday opposite for work or effort

  • creative

    focuses on new ideas rather than mere output

Grammar Patterns

barren talks

a barren year

remain barren

barren imagination

Usage Note

Often used for talks, efforts, periods, or imagination that fail to produce anything valuable. Distinguish from adjective/1, which is the literal sense for land or plants.

Common Mistakes

The hill was barren because the meeting failed.
The talks were barren because the meeting failed.
this sense is figurative and describes activity, ideas, or effort, not physical land.
My afternoon was barren because I felt tired.
My afternoon was unproductive because I felt tired.' / 'The research period was barren because no new evidence appeared.
barren here usually suggests a stronger, more formal lack of result.

barren — noun

Word family

  • barrenness
    nounC2
  • barrenly
    adverbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

For adjective sense 1, barren focuses on the idea that little or nothing can grow. Arid overlaps with it, but arid mainly points to very low rain and dry climate. Infertile is more neutral and technical, especially for soil, and often appears in farming or science. Sterile is more formal and can describe land, rooms, or styles that feel lifeless as well as unable to produce growth. Desolate is different again: it stresses emptiness and a sad appearance more than failed growth itself. A desert may be arid because rain never comes, but a field can become barren after bad farming. A room may look desolate, but not usually barren unless you are speaking figuratively.

arid ↗infertilesteriledesolate ↗

Etymology

Old FrenchEnglish

Barren came into English from Old French words such as barrain and baraine, used for something that could not bear children or crops. English first applied it to people, animals, and land that failed to produce life, and later widened it to figurative uses for work, ideas, or periods that bring no useful result.