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being without moisture; extremely dry; parched: arid land;
an arid climate.
barren or unproductive because of lack of moisture:
arid farmland.
lacking interest or imaginativeness; sterile; jejune:
an arid treatment of an exciting topic.
synonyms: dull, tedious, dreary, vapid, uninspired, uninspiring; pedantic.
antonyms: lively, interesting, exciting, spirited, imaginative.
historical examples

she coyly owned to aridity, and they entered the saloon, kept by a dutchman who spoke english.
the dop doctor clotilde inez mary graves

there is aridity, there is wildness, and yet there is a certain monotony.
the sea jules michelet

giotto has here rendered the aridity of the summit of la vernia, its pinnacles of rocks with stunted trees.
the story of -ssisi lina duff gordon

that great craving for cold and wet is a sign of the heat and aridity that is within.
monsieur de pourceaugnac molire

on the dust it shines; on the gray egyptian plain, in its season of aridity, it shimmers, and eclipses everything.
the insect jules michelet

but usually it is merely the problem of aridity; which is only a challenge to enterprise.
the challenge of the country george walter fiske

then he saw the long street flecked with sunshine stretching onward into the aridity of endless to-morrows.
phases of an inferior planet ellen glasgow

he might have learnt from his own experience the aridity of a life which is barren of love.
robert browning edward dowden

the leading feature in the climate of the extensive and irregular region just outlined is its aridity.
north america israel c. russell

as aridity is the weak point of the pampas in their agricultural aspect, so monotony is the defect of their scenery.
south america observations and impressions james bryce

adjective
having little or no rain; dry; parched with heat
devoid of interest
n.

1590s, from middle french aridité or directly from latin ariditatem (nominative ariditas) “dryness,” from aridus (see arid). the latin word was used figuratively of unadorned styles as well as stingy men.
adj.

1650s, “dry, parched,” from french aride (15c.) or directly from latin aridus “dry, arid, parched,” from arere “to be dry,” from pie root -as- “to burn, glow” (see ash (n.1)). figurative sense of “uninteresting” is from 1827. related: aridly.
arid
(ār’ĭd)
very dry, especially having less precipitation than is needed to support most trees or woody plants. deserts have arid climates.