- 1not covered by any clothes She likes to walk around in bare feet. They wore dirty clothes and their feet were bare. see barefoot
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- 2(of trees or countryside) not covered with leaves; without plants or trees the bare branches of winter trees a bare mountainside We looked out over a bare, open landscape, stripped of vegetation.
- 3(of surfaces) 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.
- 4(of a room, cupboard, etc.) empty The fridge was completely bare. bare shelves a room bare of furniture
- 5[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. Which Word?naked / 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/woman arms flame walls aggression branches fear 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. Naked can mean “without a protective covering”:a naked sword
- Bare can also mean “just enough”:the bare minimum.
- Naked can be used to talk about strong feelings that are not hidden:naked fear.Note also the idiom:(visible) with/to the naked eye
- simple
- stark
- bare
- unequivocal
- plain used for talking about a fact that other people may not like to hear; honest and direct in way that other people may not like:The plain truth is that nobody really knows.
- simple [only before noun] used for talking about a fact that other people may not like to hear; very obvious and not complicated by anything else:The simple facts of the case proved that she was wrong.
- When it is being used to emphasize facts that other people may not like to hear, plain is usually used in the expression the plain fact/truth is that…Simple can be used in this way too, but it can also be used in a wider variety of structures and collocations (such as reason and matter):The problem was due to the simple fact that… The problem was due to the plain fact that… for the plain reason that…Expressions with simple often suggest impatience with other people's behavior.
- stark (somewhat formal) used for describing an unpleasant fact or difference that is very obvious:He had to face the stark reality of the situation. The simple/plain truth may be something that some people do not want to hear, but it may be good for them to hear it anyway. The stark truth is something particularly unpleasant and painful to accept.
- bare [only before noun] the most basic or simple, with nothing extra:She gave me only a bare outline of the plan.
- unequivocal (formal) expressing your opinion or intention very clearly and firmly:The reply was an unequivocal “no.”
- the plain/simple/stark/bare/unequivocal truth
- a(n) plain/simple/stark/unequivocal fact/statement
- a(n) plain/simple/unequivocal answer
noun [uncountable]Idioms
the basic facts the bare bones of the story
to show something that was covered or to make something known that was secret Every aspect of their private lives has been laid bare.
without weapons or tools He was capable of killing a man with his bare hands. We pulled the wall down with our bare hands.See bare in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: bare