 3 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
sterile
adjective
1: incapable of reproducing; "an infertile couple" [syn: {unfertile},
{infertile}] [ant: {fertile}]
2: free of or using methods to keep free of pathological
microorganisms; "a sterile operating area"; "aseptic
surgical instruments"; "aseptic surgical techniques" [syn:
{aseptic}]
3: deficient in originality or creativity; lacking powers of
invention; "a sterile ideology lacking in originality";
"unimaginative development of a musical theme";
"uninspired writing" [syn: {unimaginative}, {uninspired},
{uninventive}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Sterile \Ster"ile\, adjective [F. st['e]rile, L. sterilis, akin to Gr.
stereo's stiff, solid, stei^ros barren, stei^ra a cow that
has not calved, Goth. stair[=o], fem., barren. See {Stare} to
gaze.]
1. Producing little or no crop; barren; unfruitful;
unproductive; not fertile; as, sterile land; a sterile
desert; a sterile year.
2. (Biol.)
(a) Incapable of reproduction; unfitted for reproduction
of offspring; not able to germinate or bear fruit;
unfruitful; as, a sterile flower, which bears only
stamens.
(b) Free from reproductive spores or germs; as, a sterile
fluid.
3. Fig.: Barren of ideas; destitute of sentiment; as, a
sterile production or author.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
137 Moby Thesaurus words for "sterile":
abortive, acarpous, antiseptic, arid, aseptic, bare, barren, blah,
blank, bloodless, boiled, bootless, celibate, characterless,
childless, cold, colorless, counterproductive, dead,
decontaminated, desert, desolate, disinfected, dismal, draggy,
drained, drearisome, dreary, dried-up, dry, dryasdust, dull, dusty,
effete, elephantine, empty, etiolated, exhausted, fade, fallow,
fatuitous, fatuous, feckless, flat, fruitless, futile, gainless,
gaunt, gelded, heavy, ho-hum, hollow, hygienic, impotent,
inadequate, inane, ineffective, ineffectual, inefficacious,
inexcitable, infecund, infertile, inoperative, insipid, invalid,
issueless, jejune, leached, leaden, lifeless, low-spirited,
menopausal, noncreative, nonfertile, nonproducing, nonproductive,
nonprolific, nonremunerative, nugacious, nugatory, of no force,
otiose, pale, pallid, pasteurized, pedestrian, plodding, pointless,
poky, ponderous, profitless, prophylactic, pure, rewardless,
sanitary, sine prole, slow, solemn, spiritless, stale, sterilized,
stiff, stodgy, stuffy, sucked dry, superficial, tasteless, tedious,
teemless, unavailing, uncontaminated, uncreative, uncultivated,
unfertile, unfruitful, uninfected, uninspired, uninventive,
unlively, unplowed, unpolluted, unproductive, unprofitable,
unprolific, unremunerative, unrewarding, unsown, untilled, useless,
vain, vapid, virgin, waste, wasted, without issue, wooden,
worn-out
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