Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iː	see	ɪ	sit	e / ɛ	bed	æ	cat
ɑː	father	ɒ	hot (UK)	ɔː	law	ʊ	put
uː	too	ʌ	cup	ɜː	bird	ə	about
eɪ	day	aɪ	my	ɔɪ	boy	aʊ	now
əʊ / oʊ	go (UK / US)	ɪə	near	eə	hair	ʊə	tour

Consonants that look unusual

θ	thin	ð	this	ʃ	she	ʒ	measure
tʃ	church	dʒ	judge	ŋ	sing	j	yes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

-s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
-ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
-ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

arid

/ˈæɹɪd/ adjective

Forms arider aridest

adjective Very dry. “The cake was arid.”
adjective Describing a very dry climate. Typically defined as less than 25 cm or 10 inches of rainfall annually. “Deserts are known for being arid.”
adjective (figurative) Devoid of value. “The millionaire viewed his gift as arid.”

Synonyms

xeric waterless desiccate desiccated

Antonyms

wet drenched damp moist rainforest humid valuable costly precious

Etymology

From French aride or directly from Latin āridus (“dry, arid, parched”), compare its synonymous contracted form ardus. Originally from the verb āreo (“to be dry, to be parched”), akin to ārdeō (“to be on fire, to burn”).

Webster’s 1913

adjective Exhausted of moisture; parched with heat; dry; barren. "An arid waste." Thomson.

Etymology [L. aridus, fr. arere to be dry: cf. F. aride.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “arid”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “arid” (best matches first).

ध्राख् dhrākh dhrākhati, etc., to be dry or arid, etc., = rt. drākh.
रोलम्ब rolamba distrustful, unbelieving (?); ( as ), m. a bee; dry or arid soil (?).
पिण्डीर piṇḍīra sapless, juiceless, arid, dry; ( as ), m. the pomegranate tree; cuttle-fish bone; sea foam.
लाख् lākh lākhati, etc., to grow dry, be dry or arid; to adorn; to suffice, be competent; to prevent.
द्राख् drākh drākhati, etc., to become dry or arid; to be able or competent or sufficient; to adorn; to prohibit or preve…
राख् rākh rākhati, etc., Caus. Aor. ararākhat, to be arid or dry; to adorn; to suffice, be able or competent; to imped…
जङ्गल jaṅgala arid, sterile, desert; ( as ), m. a desert, waste or overgrown land, any arid or sterile region, any wild or…
ओख् okh okhati, okhāñ-cakāra, okhitum, to be dry or arid; to be able or competent; to adorn, suffice; to refuse, pre…

All 14 Sanskrit matches →