- 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.
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s 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