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aridity

 - 3 dictionary results

ar⋅id

  [ar-id]
Use aridity in a Sentence
–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(ēre) to be dry + -idus -id 4 ; cf. ash 1

Related forms:
a⋅rid⋅i⋅ty  [uh-rid-i-tee] , ar⋅id⋅ness, noun
ar⋅id⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. See dry. 3. tedious, dreary, vapid, uninspired, uninspiring.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To aridity
ar·id   (ār'ĭd)   
adj.  

  1. Lacking moisture, especially having insufficient rainfall to support trees or woody plants: an arid climate.

  2. 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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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