ar ‧ id /ˈærəd, ˈærɪd/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: French ; Origin: aride , from Latin aridus ]
1 . arid land or an arid ↑ climate is very dry because it has very little rain:
Water from the Great Lakes is pumped to arid regions.
2 . not having any new, interesting, or exciting features or qualities:
My mind was arid, all inspiration gone.
—aridity /əˈrɪdəti, əˈrɪdɪti/ noun [uncountable]
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ dry having very little moisture, or no longer wet:
How do plants survive in hot dry conditions?
|
My mouth feels dry.
|
The clothes should be dry.
|
The ground was bone dry (=completely dry) .
▪ parched completely dry – used about land, or about someone’s lips, throat, skin etc:
The earth was so parched that there were huge cracks in it.
|
parched lips
▪ arid extremely dry because of lack or rain and therefore difficult for growing crops:
the arid landscape of the Danakil desert
|
an arid mountain region