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6 dictionary results for: Arid

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ar·id

[ar-id] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	being without moisture; extremely dry; parched: arid land; an arid climate.

2.	barren or unproductive because of lack of moisture: arid farmland.

3.	lacking interest or imaginativeness; sterile; jejune: an arid treatment of an exciting topic.

[Origin: 1645–55; (< F) < L āridus, equiv. to ār(ére) to be dry + -idus -id⁴; cf. ash¹

]

—Related forms

a·rid·i·ty

[uh-rid-i-tee] Pronunciation Key, ar·id·ness, noun

ar·id·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. See dry. 3. tedious, dreary, vapid, uninspired, uninspiring.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ar·id (ār'ĭd) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Lacking moisture, especially having insufficient rainfall to support trees or woody plants: an arid climate.
Lacking interest or feeling; lifeless and dull: a technically perfect but arid musical performance.

[Latin āridus, from ārēre, to be dry; see as- in Indo-European roots.]

a·rid'i·ty (ə-rĭd'ĭ-tē), ar'id·ness n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
arid

1652, "dry, parched," from L. aridus, from arere "to be dry," from PIE base *as- "to burn, glow" (see ardent). Figurative sense of "uninteresting" is from 1827.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

arid
adjective
1.	lacking sufficient water or rainfall; "an arid climate"; "a waterless well"; "miles of waterless country to cross"
2.	lacking vitality or spirit; lifeless; "a technically perfect but arid performance of the sonata"; "a desiccate romance"; "a prissy and emotionless creature...settles into a mold of desiccated snobbery"-C.J.Rolo

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

arid (ār'ĭd) Pronunciation Key

Very dry, especially having less precipitation than is needed to support most trees or woody plants. Deserts have arid climates.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Arid

Ar"id\, a. [L. aridus, fr. arere to be dry: cf. F. aride.] Exhausted of moisture; parched with heat; dry; barren. "An arid waste." --Thomson.

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