Barren vs. Sterile — What's the Difference?

(of land) too poor to produce much or any vegetation

Not producing or incapable of producing offspring.

(of a place or building) bleak and lifeless

Not producing or incapable of producing seed, fruit, spores, or other reproductive structures. Used of plants or their parts.

A barren tract or tracts of land

Producing little or no vegetation; unfruitful

A group or drove of mules

Free from live bacteria or other microorganisms

Not producing or incapable of producing offspring. Used of female animals.

Lacking imagination, creativity, or vitality.

Often Offensive Not producing or incapable of producing offspring. Used of women.

Lacking the power to function; not productive or effective; fruitless

Not producing or incapable of producing fruit

(uncomparable) Unable to reproduce (or procreate).

Lacking vegetation, especially useful vegetation

(figurative) Terse; lacking sentiment or emotional stimulation, as in a manner of speaking.

Unproductive of results or gains; unprofitable

(figurative) Fruitless, uninspiring, or unproductive.

Devoid of something specified

Germless; free from all living or viable microorganisms.

Lacking in liveliness or interest

Free from dangerous objects, as a zone in an airport that can be only be entered via a security checkpoint.

Often barrens A tract of unproductive land, often with a scrubby growth of trees.

Of weapons: foreign-made and untraceable to the United States.

(not comparable) Unable to bear children; sterile.

Producing little or no crop; barren; unfruitful; unproductive; not fertile; as, sterile land; a sterile desert; a sterile year.

Of poor fertility, infertile; not producing vegetation.

Incapable of reproduction; unfitted for reproduction of offspring; not able to germinate or bear fruit; unfruitful; as, a sterile flower, which bears only stamens.

Bleak.

Fig.: Barren of ideas; destitute of sentiment; as, a sterile production or author.

Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty.

Incapable of reproducing;

Mentally dull; stupid.

Free of or using methods to keep free of pathological microorganisms;

An area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.

Deficient in originality or creativity; lacking powers of invention;

Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young; sterile; - said of women and female animals.

Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation; sterile.

Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty.

Mentally dull; stupid.

A tract of barren land.

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.

An uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation;

Providing no shelter or sustenance;

Not bearing offspring;

Incapable of sustaining life;