adj.
Pronunciation: ' ber
Function: adjective
Inflected Form: bar · er ; bar · est
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English bær; akin to Old High German bar naked, Lithuanian basas barefoot
Date: before 12th century
1 a : lacking a natural, usual, or appropriate covering b (1) : lacking clothing < bare feet> (2) obsolete : BAREHEADED c : lacking any tool or weapon <opened the box with his bare hands>
2 : open to view : EXPOSED <laying bare their secrets>
3 a : unfurnished or scantily supplied <a bare room> b : DESTITUTE < bare of all safeguards>
4 a : having nothing left over or added <the bare necessities of life> b : MERE <a bare two hours away> c : devoid of amplification or adornment <the bare facts>
5 obsolete : WORTHLESS
– bare · ness noun
synonyms BARE , NAKED , NUDE , BALD , BARREN mean deprived of naturally or conventionally appropriate covering. BARE implies the removal of what is additional, superfluous, ornamental, or dispensable <an apartment with bare walls>. NAKED suggests absence of protective or ornamental covering but may imply a state of nature, of destitution, or of defenselessness <poor half- naked children>. NUDE applies especially to the unclothed human figure <a nude model posing for art students>. BALD implies actual or seeming absence of natural covering and may suggest a conspicuous bareness <a bald mountain peak>. BARREN often suggests aridity or impoverishment or sterility < barren plains>.