bare

1
[ bair ]
See synonyms for: barebaredbarestbares on Thesaurus.com

adjective,bar·er, bar·est.
  1. without covering or clothing; naked; nude: bare legs.

  2. without the usual furnishings, contents, etc.: bare walls.

  1. open to view; unconcealed; undisguised: his bare dislike of neckties.

  2. unadorned; bald; plain: the bare facts.

  3. (of cloth) napless or threadbare.

  4. scarcely or just sufficient; mere: the bare necessities of life.

  5. Obsolete. with the head uncovered; bareheaded.

verb (used with object),bared, bar·ing.
  1. to open to view; reveal or divulge: to bare one's arms; to bare damaging new facts.

Origin of bare

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English bær; cognate with Old Frisian ber, Dutch baar, Old Saxon, Old High German, German bar, Old Norse berr; akin to Armenian bok “naked,” Lithuanian bãsas, Russian bosóĭ “barefoot”

synonym study For bare

2. Bare, stark, barren share the sense of lack or absence of something that might be expected. Bare, the least powerful in connotation of the three, means lack of expected or usual coverings, furnishings, or embellishments: bare floor, feet, head. Stark implies extreme severity or desolation and resultant bleakness or dreariness: a stark landscape; a stark, emotionless countenance. Barren carries a strong sense of sterility and oppressive dullness: barren fields; a barren relationship. 6. See mere1.

Other words for bare

Opposites for bare

Other words from bare

  • barish, adjective
  • bareness, noun

Words Nearby bare

Other definitions for bare (2 of 2)

bare2
[ bair ]

verbArchaic.
  1. simple past tense of bear1.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bare in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bare (1 of 2)

bare1

/ (bɛə) /


adjective
  1. unclothed; exposed: used esp of a part of the body

  2. without the natural, conventional, or usual covering or clothing: a bare tree

  1. lacking appropriate furnishings, etc: a bare room

  2. unembellished; simple: the bare facts

  3. (prenomial) just sufficient; mere: he earned the bare minimum

  4. with one's bare hands without a weapon or tool

verb
  1. (tr) to make bare; uncover; reveal

Origin of bare

1
Old English bær; compare Old Norse berr, Old High German bar naked, Old Slavonic bosǔ barefoot

Derived forms of bare

  • bareness, noun

British Dictionary definitions for bare (2 of 2)

bare2

/ (bɛə) /


verb
  1. archaic a past tense of bear 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012