# bare

> English word · Adjective · IPA /bɛə/ · frequency rank #5,293

## Definitions
1. Minimal; that is or are just sufficient.
2. Naked, uncovered.
3. Having no supplies.
4. Having no decoration.
5. Having had what usually covers (something) removed.
6. A lot or lots of.
7. With head uncovered; bareheaded.
8. Without anything to cover up or conceal one's thoughts or actions; open to view; exposed.
9. Mere; without embellishment.
10. Threadbare, very worn.
11. Not insured.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **be** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-be)
- **br** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-br)
- **bay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bay)
- **bro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bro)
- **bye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bye)
- **bat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bat)
- **bee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bee)
- **bra** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bra)
- **Bas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bas)
- **BCE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bce)
- **bor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bor)
- **BRB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-brb)
- **Boe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-boe)
- **baz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-baz)
- **Bri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bri)
- **ber** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-ber)
- **bur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bur)
- **bru** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bru)
- **Bir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-bir)
- **BLE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bare-vs-ble)

## Common misspellings (3)
`abre`, `bbare`, `brae`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bare