sterile
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- germ-free, aseptic, disinfected, sterilized
- barren, bare, dry, empty, fruitless, unfruitful, unproductive

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Antonyms: fertile, fecund
Contrasted words: potent, productive, rich, bearing, fruiting, fruitive, producing, turning out, yielding, fecund, fruitful, prolific, teeming, fertile
Related Words: sterilized, fallow, fruitless, unproductive, unprolific, arid, bare, dry, dead, desolate, flat, insipid, jejune, vapid, stale, effete, worn-out, impotent

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English Thesaurus: clean, pure, sterile, spotless, pristine, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

ster‧ile /ˈsteraɪl $ -rəl/ adjective
[Date: 1400-1500; Language: Latin; Origin: sterilis]

1. a person or animal that is sterile cannot produce babies Synonym : infertile Antonym : fertile
make/render/leave somebody sterile
Radiotherapy has left her permanently sterile.

2. completely clean and not containing any bacteria that might cause infection
sterile equipment/water/bandages etc
Rinse the eye with sterile water.

3. lacking new ideas, interest, or imagination Antonym : productive
sterile argument/debate etc
the increasingly sterile debate on political reform

4. a sterile building, room etc is not interesting or attractive and is often very plain:
The classrooms are sterile, with no artwork on the walls.

5. sterile land cannot be used to grow crops Synonym : barren
—sterility /stəˈrɪləti, stəˈrɪlɪti/ noun [uncountable]

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

sterile
adj.
I. completely clean
VERBS be | become | remain | make sth | keep sth This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile.
ADV. completely | virtually

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

sterile
II. not able to produce young animals/babies
VERBS be | become | remain | leave sb, make sb
ADV. permanently Male workers were made permanently sterile by this pesticide.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

sterile
III. with no interest or life
VERBS be | become, grow Their relationship had grown sterile over the years.
ADV. very | increasingly the increasingly sterile debate on constitutional reform
largely | rather, somewhat

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

clean without any dirt or marks:
They need clean water to drink.
I don’t have any clean clothes.
pure water or air that is pure does not contain any dirt, pollution, or bacteria:
I breathed in the pure mountain air.
sterile /ˈsteraɪl $ -rəl/ completely clean, with no bacteria, and therefore safe for medical or scientific use:
Place a sterile bandage on the wound.
sterile needles
spotless completely clean – used mainly about rooms and clothes:
Her kitchen is always spotless.
pristine /ˈprɪstiːn/ completely clean and new-looking:
He wore a pristine white shirt.
immaculate as clean and tidy as it is possible to be:
The soldiers’ uniforms have to be immaculate.
spick and span [not before noun] informal clean and tidy, especially after having just been cleaned:
By the end of the day, the whole place was spick and span.
wash to clean something with water and usually soap:
She’s washing her hair.
There’s nowhere to wash your clothes.
wipe to clean a surface with a cloth, often a wet cloth:
Wipe the worktop when you’ve finished cooking.
scrub to wash something by rubbing it hard, especially with a brush:
They made her scrub the floor.
rinse to remove dirt from something using water, especially after washing it with soap:
Rinse your hair thoroughly after shampooing it.
cleanse formal to clean your skin, using water or a special cream:
There are many products available for cleansing your skin.
bathe /beɪð/ to clean a wound or a part of your body with water:
Bathe the cut and put a plaster on it.
do the dishes (also do the washing-up British English) to wash plates and pans after a meal:
Who’s going to help me do the dishes?
do the laundry (also do the washing British English) to wash clothes:
On Tuesdays, he does the washing.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲