3. Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty. Brilliant but barren reveries. Prescott. Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter. Swift.
4. Mentally dull; stupid. Shak. Barren flower, a flower which has
only stamens without a pistil, or which as neither stamens nor
pistils.
— Barren Grounds (Geog.), a vast tract in British America northward
of the forest regions.
— Barren Ground bear (Zoöl.), a peculiar bear, inhabiting the
Barren Grounds, now believed to be a variety of the brown bear of
Europe.
— Barren Ground caribou (Zoöl.), a small reindeer (Rangifer
Groenlandicus) peculiar to the Barren Grounds and Greenland.
BARREN
Bar"ren, n.
1. A tract of barren land.
2. pl.
Defn: Elevated lands or plains on which grow small trees, but not timber; as, pine barrens; oak barrens. They are not necessarily sterile, and are often fertile. [Amer.] J. Pickering.
BARRENLY
Bar"ren*ly, adv.
Defn: Unfruitfully; unproductively.
BARRENNESS
Bar"ren*ness, n.
Defn: The condition of being barren; sterility; unproductiveness.
A total barrenness of invention. Dryden.