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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.
Contemporary Examples

Media people, always on perpetual deadline, can adapt even to the most arid surroundings.
Tropical Storm Isaac Sidelines Media Elite at the Republican Convention Lauren Ashburn August 27, 2012

Anguilla is an arid, flat Caribbean island surrounded on all sides by seawater.
Sun+Water= High Tech Caribbean Luxury At The Cusinart Resort The Daily Beast June 10, 2014

Everywhere, sprinkler systems and contract workers with hoses are fighting to tame the arid desert into lush submission.
Lingerie of Arabia Rebecca Dana November 2, 2009

Without it, the seeds of change and innovation will wither in a soil that is an arid mix of negativism and defeatism.
America’s Real Problem: We Failed the Middle Class Arianna Huffington September 10, 2010

Some parts were arid, nearly barren, others green and fertile.
‘The Harness Maker’s Dream:’ The Unlikely Ranch King of Texas Nick Kotz September 19, 2014

Historical Examples

So these two, not yet aflame with drought, banished the arid phantom for a little while.
The Wings of the Morning Louis Tracy

Though the desert were arid on this side, it was her desert, and there in her tent must she abide.
Tiverton Tales Alice Brown

Better to have omitted all feast; nothing simpler, and it would have been at least dignified, even if arid.
Lady Baltimore Owen Wister

What an impressive contrast to the arid physics of the time based also on Aristotle!
The Legacy of Greece Various

The scarcity of vegetation makes spectral remote sensing especially effective in arid lands.
Deserts A. S. Walker

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