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Definition of barenext
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bare

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective bare differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of bare are bald, barren, naked, and nude. While all these words 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

When might bald be a better fit than bare?

The synonyms bald and bare are sometimes interchangeable, but bald implies actual or seeming absence of natural covering and may suggest a conspicuous bareness.

a bald mountain peak

When is it sensible to use barren instead of bare?

The words barren and bare can be used in similar contexts, but barren often suggests aridity or impoverishment or sterility.

barren plains

In what contexts can naked take the place of bare?

While in some cases nearly identical to bare, naked suggests absence of protective or ornamental covering but may imply a state of nature, of destitution, or of defenselessness.

poor half-naked children

Where would nude be a reasonable alternative to bare?

While the synonyms nude and bare are close in meaning, nude applies especially to the unclothed human figure.

a nude model posing for art students

How does the adjective bare differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of bare are bald, barren, naked, and nude. While all these words 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

When might bald be a better fit than bare?

The synonyms bald and bare are sometimes interchangeable, but bald implies actual or seeming absence of natural covering and may suggest a conspicuous bareness.

a bald mountain peak

When is it sensible to use barren instead of bare?

The words barren and bare can be used in similar contexts, but barren often suggests aridity or impoverishment or sterility.

barren plains

In what contexts can naked take the place of bare?

While in some cases nearly identical to bare, naked suggests absence of protective or ornamental covering but may imply a state of nature, of destitution, or of defenselessness.

poor half-naked children

Where would nude be a reasonable alternative to bare?

While the synonyms nude and bare are close in meaning, nude applies especially to the unclothed human figure.

a nude model posing for art students

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bare
Adjective
However, the warring parties failed to start second round of talks in Islamabad this week, laying bare key sticking points to a definitive resolution to the fighting. Alayna Treene, CNN Money, 24 Apr. 2026 With only six picks going in and a cupboard bare of first-round possibilities, trading up didn’t make much sense in terms of adding depth to the roster. Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 24 Apr. 2026
Verb
The Mallards, whose colors are maroon and gold and whose logo features a male duck angrily baring its fictional teeth, are part of a 51-year old league stretching from Maine to New Mexico, Maryland to Alaska. Tris Wykes, Twin Cities, 10 Apr. 2026 Streep later argued that women in power often must bare arms on television while men are covered in a suit and tie or a shirt. Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for bare
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bare
Adjective
  • An anonymous trader made off with more than $400,000 on Polymarket, another such website, after betting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro would be toppled from office by the end of January, mere hours before Maduro was arrested.
    Editorial, Boston Herald, 25 Apr. 2026
  • Yet as the focus remains on federal politics, our state legislative maps and the unfairness of them cannot be a mere afterthought.
    The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • July 23 – August 22 Clarity today comes from keeping your message simple and grounded.
    Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 30 Apr. 2026
  • Brown said Atlanta was taking away the Knicks’ spray game, which made the answer simpler.
    C.J. Holmes, New York Daily News, 29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • The outer layers of the star will eventually cool and disperse, leaving a nebula of ex-stellar material surrounding the sun's core, which will then become an exposed cooling stellar remnant called a white dwarf.
    Robert Lea, Space.com, 23 Apr. 2026
  • The objective is to reduce exposed equity within the entity in a lawful and structured manner.
    Ascend Agency, New York Daily News, 11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Blessed with wide fields of view, binoculars reveal the night sky beyond the reach of the naked eye, able to give excellent views of large and bright deep-sky objects — including star clusters and nebulas and the occasional galaxy (as well as the star-fields in the arc of the Milky Way).
    Jamie Carter, Space.com, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Talley then fled naked from the hospital and soon was recaptured.
    The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Too often, supporters have felt the players have struggled to even offer that, with meek away performances against Sunderland (3-0 defeat), Brighton & Hove Albion (2-0 defeat) and Everton (2-0 defeat) displaying a side devoid of belief and beaten before kick-off.
    Andy Jones, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2026
  • In addition to the entire resort being devoid of single-use plastic, the property also participates in marine conservation efforts that include coral restoration and turtle rehabilitation.
    Christina Liao, Vogue, 23 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • New research reveals a potential link between GLP-1 drugs and improvements in myriad health conditions, including sleep apnea, joint pain, liver disease, heart disease, asthma, and even addiction.
    Cindy Krischer Goodman, Sun Sentinel, 25 Apr. 2026
  • The strike reveals how Russia’s invasion has made once-unthinkable nuclear security threats a reality.
    Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Revisiting maps mid-decade for political advantage runs directly against both the spirit and the plain language of those protections.
    Dan Daley, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Apr. 2026
  • But a glimpse at an earlier journalistic universe—newspapers in the era before social media—shows the dishonesty at the center of the project to treat the plain meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment as up for grabs.
    Lawrence Glickman, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • It’s been maddening to watch a lineup full of high-end hitters come up empty night after night in April, a month that has felt as long as about three.
    Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 29 Apr. 2026
  • After sitting empty since Sting and Styler moved out, per the New York Post, the stylish spread has just returned to the market for $45 million, a whopping $5 million less than the current owner paid.
    Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 28 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Bare.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bare. Accessed 1 May. 2026.

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