bare

¹bare

adj \ˈber\

bar·erbar·est

Definition of BARE

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

Examples of BARE

1. There was a rug in the front room of the house, but the other floors were bare.
2. Do not let the bare wires touch.
3. He covered her bare arms with his coat.
4. He had a glove on his left hand, but his right hand was bare.
5. The ground was bare where the statue had stood for years.
6. There was only one bare shelf.
7. Her office was pretty bare, having only one desk and one chair.
8. This is the barest room in the house.
9. He only told me the bare facts about what happened.
10. The dining room is warm and comfortable in a quasi-Tuscan-villa style, with bare wood floors, mottled walls, … and a glass room divider etched with images of grapes. —Colman Andrews, Gourmet, March 2007
11. A scant two hours after his Derby victory, Monarchos was back in his … stall, beneath a bare bulb, eating carrots from a red bucket. —Steve Rushin, Sports Illustrated, 14 May 2001
12. The brittle-looking branches of bare trees reached up from the horizon, and smoke could be seen curling from the chimneys of the sturdy stone houses in the villages we passed through. —David McAninch, Saveur, November 2008

Origin of BARE

Middle English, from Old English bær; akin to Old High German bar naked, Lithuanian basas barefoot

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to BARE

Synonyms: mere, very

Antonyms: adorned, decorated, embellished, fancy, ornamented

Related Words: absolute, all-out, arrant, out-and-out, outright, pure, sheer, simple, stark, total, unadulterated, unalloyed, unmitigated, unqualified, utter; alone, lone, only, singular, sole, solitary, solo, unique

Near Antonyms: flamboyant, flashy, garish, gaudy, glittery, glitzy, loud, ostentatious, showy, splashy, swank (or swanky), tawdry; bedizened, florid, lurid, ornate; exaggerated, overdecorated, overdone, overwrought; baroque, elaborate, extravagant, ornate, rococo; appareled (or apparelled), arrayed, bedecked, decked-out, dressed, embroidered, garnished, trimmed

see all synonyms and antonyms

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Synonym Discussion of BARE

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>.

Rhymes with BARE

air, Ayr, bear, Blair, blare, care, chair, chare, dare, Dare, e'er, ere, err, eyre, fair, fare, flair, flare, glair, glare, hair, hare, Herr, heir, lair, mare, ne'er, pair, pare, pear, prayer, rare, rear, scare, share, snare, spare, square, stair, stare, swear, tare, tear, their, there, vair, ware, wear, weir, where, yare