b-a-r-e
BARE means uncovered, naked, or exposed—without covering or adornment. As a verb, it means to reveal or uncover. From bare skin to bare truth, this word strips things to their essence.
6
Points in Scrabble
Base tile values • No multipliers applied
BARE fundamentally means uncovered, naked, or without covering—the state of being exposed or stripped of covering, decoration, or disguise. When something is bare, it lacks its usual covering or is reduced to its essential form. This simple yet powerful word captures the essence of exposure and minimalism. As an adjective, bare describes things without their usual covering: bare feet (no shoes), bare walls (no decoration), bare branches (no leaves), or bare facts (no embellishment). As a verb, "to bare" means to uncover or reveal: bare your soul (reveal innermost feelings), bare your teeth (show aggression), or bare the truth (reveal facts).Common uses of bare:
The word bare comes from Old English bær, meaning "naked, uncovered, or unclothed." This ancient Germanic root (*bazaz) connects to similar words across Indo-European languages: German bar, Dutch baar, and Old Norse berr—all meaning naked or bare. The word's core meaning has remained remarkably stable for over 1,000 years. In Old English, "bær" described both literal nakedness and metaphorical exposure. Medieval texts used it for bare swords (unsheathed), bare land (uncultivated), and bare truth (undisguised). This consistency across centuries shows how fundamental the concept of "uncovered" is to human experience. The verb form "to bare" (reveal) developed from the adjective, following the common English pattern of converting descriptive words into actions. The homophone "bear" (carry/animal) causes frequent confusion, but they have completely different origins—"bear" comes from Old English beran (to carry) and bera (the animal).
•"Bare minimum" originated in the 1840s during the Industrial Revolution
•BARE and BEAR are the most commonly confused homophones in English
•"The Bare Necessities" from The Jungle Book popularized the phrase globally
•BARE forms many compound words: barefoot, barehanded, bareheaded, bare-bones
"The winter trees stood bare against the gray sky."
"She decided to bare her soul in her autobiography."
"They survived on the bare necessities during the expedition."
Words with similar meaning
Naked
Without clothing
Exposed
Uncovered
Empty
Without contents
Plain
Unadorned
Words with opposite meaning
Covered
With covering
Clothed
Wearing clothes
Full
Complete
Decorated
Adorned
Comparative
barer
More bare
Superlative
barest
Most bare
Verb Forms
bares, bared, baring
To uncover
Compound Words
Without shoes
Without gloves/tools
Exposed skin
4-letter word advantages:
"Bare" embodies the philosophy of minimalism across cultures. From Japanese wabi-sabi(finding beauty in simplicity) to Scandinavian design (functional minimalism), the concept of stripping away excess resonates globally. The phrase "bare necessities" gained cultural immortality through Disney's The Jungle Book, teaching generations that happiness comes from appreciating life's simple essentials rather than accumulating excess.
To "bare one's soul" represents ultimate vulnerability—emotional nakedness. This metaphor appears across literature and psychology, from confessional poetry to therapy. The connection between physical and emotional exposure runs deep in human experience. "Bare facts" and "bare truth" suggest that truth, like nakedness, can be uncomfortable but necessary. This linguistic link between nudity and honesty appears in many languages.
The bare/bear homophone confusion ranks among English's most common errors. "Bear with me" (have patience) versus "bare with me" (get naked with me) creates particularly embarrassing mistakes. This confusion stems from identical pronunciation but opposite meanings—bear meaning to carry or endure, while bare means to uncover. Spell-checkers can't catch this error, making it persist even in professional writing.
Bare vs. Bear
Uncover vs. carry/animal
Barely vs. Barley
Hardly vs. grain
Bare as adjective/verb
Naked vs. to reveal
BEAR
Animal/carry
BARS
Metal rods
BASE
Foundation
BAKE
Cook in oven
BARK
Dog sound/tree covering
BARN
Farm building
BARD
Poet
BIRD
Feathered animal
NAKED
Without clothes
PLAIN
Simple
Total base points: 6 (Scrabble)
Vowels: 2 | Consonants: 2
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