What does "bare" mean?
The surface, the (bare) skin.
Bare
/bɛə/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The surface, the (bare) skin.
- Grammar: bare is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: mere, naked, absolute, air.
- Useful contrasts: overwrought, plentiful, beaded.
- Usage evidence: A bare word of criticism makes her nervous.
How to use "bare"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "bare" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "bare" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "bare" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "bare" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "bare" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "mere" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "bare", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The surface, the (bare) skin.
"In sad good earnest, sir, you have toucht the very bare of naked truth [...]"
- 2 Surface; body; substance.
"You have touched the very bare of naked truth."
- 3 That part of a roofing slate, shingle, tile, or metal plate, which is exposed to the weather.
Verb
- 1 To uncover; to reveal. figuratively, sometimes, transitive
"She bared her teeth at him."
- 2 simple past of bear form-of, obsolete, past
"And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon"
- 3 lay bare wordnet
- 4 make public wordnet
- 5 expose to view wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Minimal; that is or are just sufficient.
"a bare majority"
- 2 Naked, uncovered.
""I refuse to show myself out of doors in my bare feet," the Centipede said. "I have to get my boots on again first.""
- 3 Having no supplies.
"a room bare of furniture"
- 4 Having no decoration.
"The walls of this room are bare — why not hang some paintings on them?"
- 5 Having had what usually covers (something) removed.
"The trees were left bare after the swarm of locusts devoured all the leaves."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 A lot or lots of. Multicultural-London-English, Yorkshire, not-comparable, slang
"It's taking bare time."
- 7 With head uncovered; bareheaded.
"When once thy foot enters the church, be bare. / God is more there, then thou: for thou art there / Onely by his permiſſion."
- 8 Without anything to cover up or conceal one's thoughts or actions; open to view; exposed.
"Bare in thy guilt how foul muſt thou appear?"
- 9 Mere; without embellishment. figuratively
"bare essentials; bare necessities"
- 10 Threadbare, very worn.
"for it appears, by their bare liveries, that they live by your bare words."
- 11 Not insured.
"Before the company was formed, the firm went bare for about three months in 1985, but it now has prior acts coverage for that time."
Adjective
- 1 lacking embellishment or ornamentation wordnet
- 2 lacking in magnitude or quantity wordnet
- 3 having no clothes on the body wordnet
- 4 having everything extraneous removed including contents wordnet
- 5 providing no shelter or sustenance wordnet
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 lacking its natural or customary covering wordnet
- 7 lacking a surface finish such as paint wordnet
- 8 apart from anything else; without additions or modifications wordnet
- 9 not having a protective covering wordnet
- 10 just barely adequate or within a lower limit wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Barely. dialectal
"The fiend had bare departed when Ailie came over the threshold to find the auld carline glunching over the fire."
- 2 Very; significantly. Multicultural-London-English, slang
"That pissed me off bare."
- 3 Without a condom. slang
"While none of the participants had complete confidence in condoms, they continued to use them as a better alternative than “going in bare"."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 A suburb of Morecambe, Lancaster district, Lancashire, England, served by Bare Lane railway station (OS grid ref SD4564). countable, uncountable
Antonyms
Example
"A bare word of criticism makes her nervous."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "bare"?
Common synonyms include: mere, naked, absolute, air, alopecic, anaspid.
How do you use "bare" in a sentence?
A bare word of criticism makes her nervous.
How do you pronounce "bare"?
Pronounced /bɛə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English bare, bar, from Old English bær (“bare, naked, open”), from Proto-West Germanic *baʀ, from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“bare, naked”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós, from *bʰos- (“bare, barefoot”). Cognate with Scots bare, bair (“bare”), Saterland Frisian bar (“bare”), West Frisian baar (“bare”), Dutch bar (“bare”), German bar (“bare”), Swedish bar (“bare”), Icelandic ber (“bare”), Lithuanian basas (“barefoot, bare”), Polish bosy (“barefoot”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English baren, from Old English barian, from Proto-Germanic *bazōną (“to bare, make bare”).
Etymology 3
Inflected forms.