ARID

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does arid mean? 

• ARID (adjective)
  The adjective ARID has 2 senses:

1. lacking sufficient water or rainfall

2. lacking vitality or spirit; lifeless

  Familiarity information: ARID used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ARID (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lacking sufficient water or rainfall

Synonyms:

arid; waterless

Context example:

miles of waterless country to cross

Similar:

dry (free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet)

Derivation:

aridity; aridness (a deficiency of moisture (especially when resulting from a permanent absence of rainfall))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lacking vitality or spirit; lifeless

Synonyms:

arid; desiccate; desiccated

Context example:

a prissy and emotionless creature...settles into a mold of desiccated snobbery

Similar:

dull (lacking in liveliness or animation)

 Context examples 

Termites might not top the list of humanity's favorite insects, but new research suggests that their large dirt mounds are crucial to stopping deserts from spreading into semi-arid ecosystems.

(Dirt mounds made by termites in Africa, South America, Asia could prevent spread of deserts, NSF)

The conditions would have been something similar to the arid western United States today, although there would have been trees and smaller plants near streams and rivers, and forests during humid times.

(Big dinosaurs steered clear of the tropics, NSF)

The Sahara Desert was once underwater, in contrast to its present-day arid environment.

(Ancient Saharan seaway illustrates how Earth’s climate and creatures can undergo extreme change, National Science Foundation)

In a recently published study, researchers from Washington State University say bacteria, found in the hyper-arid soil of Chile's Atacama Desert, can live dormant for decades, patiently waiting for very rare rainfalls.

(Scientists: Life Can Thrive in Most Extreme Environments, George Putic/VOA)

The arid conditions and unique landscape of the desert helped to preserve the unique meteorite matter, which is believed to originate from the birth of our solar system around 4.5 billion years ago.

(Huge Haul of Extraterrestrial Material Recovered from Iranian Desert, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Kalahari, the name conjures an arid, almost lifeless expanse, its red, iron oxide sands stretching to the horizon and beyond.

(Sleeping sands of the Kalahari awaken after more than 10,000 years, NSF)

"Not much is known about what happens in transitional savanna ecosystems that are located between more arid and wetter climate zones."

(Land cover change in Botswana savannas: Don't blame the elephants, National Science Foundation)

That process long ago transformed wetter, warmer ancient Mars into today's arid, frozen planet.

(Dust Storms Linked to Gas Escape from Mars Atmosphere, NASA)

The southern border of the Sahara adjoins the Sahel, the semi-arid transition zone that lies between the Sahara and fertile savannas farther south.

(New study finds world’s largest desert, the Sahara, has grown by 10 percent since 1920, National Science Foundation)

I hold that the more arid and unreclaimed the soil where the Christian labourer's task of tillage is appointed him—the scantier the meed his toil brings—the higher the honour.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)