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
Example Sentences
Adjective All of his uncles are completely bald. He had gone completely bald by the age of 30. He covered his bald head with a baseball cap. There's a bald spot on the top of his head. There are bald patches in the cat's fur. an old car with bald tires See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Light's timing, wavelength, direction and intensity, as well as the eyes of the beholder, all matter, and unlike mercury in tuna or DDT in bald eagles, photons don't leave behind a lasting measurable chemical trace. Joshua Sokol, Scientific American, 16 Sep. 2022 Common sightings include bald eagles, ospreys and a variety of hawks, such as sharp-shinned hawks, cooper’s hawks and red-shouldered hawks. Nevin Martell, Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2022 The toll to the animal population included up to 250,000 dead seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals and 250 bald eagles, the trustee council estimated. Brian Murphy, Anchorage Daily News, 11 Sep. 2022 The spill killed 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles and as many as 22 killer whales, according to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, a joint federal-state monitoring agency. Richard Goldstein, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Sep. 2022 The camp director is under the flagpole, addressing a group of men, the sun dancing on his bald spot.WIRED, 2 Sep. 2022 This year’s outbreak contributed to a spike in egg and meat prices, and killed an alarming number of bald eagles and other wild birds. Steve Karnowski, Anchorage Daily News, 1 Sep. 2022 This year's outbreak contributed to a spike in egg and meat prices, and killed an alarming number of bald eagles and other wild birds. Steve Karnowski, ajc, 31 Aug. 2022 This year's outbreak contributed to a spike in egg and meat prices, and killed an alarming number of bald eagles and other wild birds.Fox News, 31 Aug. 2022
Verb
Young and old greeted him like a rock star—a short, balding rock star. Andrew Ferguson, The Atlantic, 7 Apr. 2020 There was chubby Roger Ebert, often the meaner of the two, with his barbed complaints about his partner’s latest opinions, and there was the tall, balding Gene Siskel, the gentler and kinder one, more likely to throw up his hands in exasperation. Dipti S. Barot, Longreads, 26 Nov. 2019 Posters of Tsai, a smiling, bespectacled woman, and Han, a slim, balding, rather bland-looking man, were everywhere. Ian Buruma, Harper's Magazine, 23 Nov. 2019 Rings of smoke from his Cuban cigar circled Luis Tiant’s balding head like a halo. Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 29 Mar. 2020 Dantzman is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs about 140 pounds, with short, gray hair, balding on the top of his head and a gray beard. Billy Kobin, The Courier-Journal, 18 Mar. 2020 Young and old greeted him like a rock star—a short, balding rock star. Andrew Ferguson, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2020 Irwin is 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, with balding gray hair and blue eyes. Alejandro Serrano, SFChronicle.com, 19 Feb. 2020 With her tires balding and her transmission on the fritz, Katrina Whitaker needed a new car. Matthew Glowicki, The Courier-Journal, 14 Feb. 2020 See More
Word History
Etymology
Adjective and Verb
Middle English balled; probably akin to Danish dialect bældet bald, Latin fulica coot, Greek phalios having a white spot, Old English bǣl fire, pyre