- not covered by any clothes
- She likes to walk around in bare feet.
- They wore shabby clothes and their feet were bare.
- His bare legs were covered in wiry golden hairs.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- (of trees or countryside) not covered with leaves; without plants or trees
- The winter sun filtered through the bare branches of the trees.
- a bare mountainside
- We looked out over a bare, open landscape, stripped of vegetation.
Extra Examples- The windows looked out onto a bare field.
- They spent a cold night on the bare mountainside.
- The flowers stood out like jewels against the dark, bare soil.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- look
- remain
- …
- very
- completely
- quite
- …
- of
- (of surfaces and objects) not covered with or protected by anything
- bare wooden floorboards
- Bare wires were sticking out of the cable.
- The walls were bare except for a clock.
- The only lighting was a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling.
- The walls have been stripped bare.
Homophones bare | bearbare bear/beə(r)//ber/- bare adjective
- The room looked strangely bare without the furniture.
- bear noun
- Staff reported finding polar bear tracks in the snow.
- bear verb
- How can you bear this awful noise?
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- look
- remain
- …
- very
- completely
- quite
- …
- of
- (of a room, cupboard, etc.) empty
- The fridge was completely bare.
- bare shelves
- bare of something The house was almost bare of furniture.
Extra Examples- The room looked strangely bare without the furniture.
- The room was completely bare.
- At many stores bare shelves greeted shoppers.
- They found themselves in a huge bare hall.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- look
- remain
- …
- very
- completely
- quite
- …
- of
- [only before noun] just enough; the most basic or simple
- The family was short of even the bare necessities of life.
- We only had the bare essentials in the way of equipment.
- He did the bare minimum of work but still passed the exam.
- She gave me only the bare facts of the case.
- It was the barest hint of a smile.
- Nothing more is known apart from the bare statement issued to the press.
Which Word? naked / barenaked / bareBoth these words can be used to mean ‘not covered with clothes’ and are frequently used with the following nouns:naked ~ bare ~ body feet man arms fear walls aggression branches flame essentials - Naked is more often used to describe a person or their body and bare usually describes a part of the body.
- Bare can also describe other things with nothing on them:
- bare walls
- a bare hillside.
- a naked sword.
- Bare can also mean ‘just enough’:
- the bare minimum.
- naked fear.
- (visible) to/with the naked eye.
Synonyms plainplainsimple ▪ stark ▪ bare ▪ unequivocal These words all describe statements, often about something unpleasant, that are very clear, not trying to hide anything, and not using more words than necessary.plain used for talking about a fact that other people may not like to hear; honest and direct in a way that other people may not like:- The plain fact is that nobody really knows.
- The simple truth is that we just can’t afford it.
- The stark truth is that there is not enough money left.
- She gave me only the bare facts of the case.
- The reply was an unequivocal ‘no’.
- the plain/simple/stark/bare/unequivocal truth
- a(n) plain/simple/stark/bare/unequivocal fact/statement
- a(n) plain/simple/unequivocal answer
Word OriginOld English bær (noun), barian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch baar.
Idioms
See bare in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee bare in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishthe bare bones (of something)
- the basic facts
- the bare bones of the story
the cupboard is bare
- (British English) used to say that there is no money for something
- They are seeking more funds but the cupboard is bare.
lay something bare
- (formal) to show something that was covered or to make something known that was secret
- Every aspect of their private lives has been laid bare.
with your bare hands
- without tools or weapons
- We pulled the wall down with our bare hands.
- He was capable of killing a man with his bare hands.
Check pronunciation:
bare