bald

UK: /ˈbɔːld/ US: /bɔld/ ,(bôld)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

bald /bɔld/   adj., -er, -est. 

1. having little or no hair on the head.
2. [before a noun] without ornament;
   blunt:
   a bald lie.

bald•ly, adv. 
bald•ness, n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

bald  (bôld), adj. 

1. having little or no hair on the scalp:
   a bald head; a bald person.
2. destitute of some natural growth or covering:
   a bald mountain.
3. lacking detail;
   bare;
   plain;
   unadorned:
   a bald prose style.
4. open;
   undisguised:
   a bald lie.
5. Zoology having white on the head:
   the bald eagle.
6. Automotive (of a tire) having the tread completely worn away.

v.i. 

7. to become bald.

n. 

8. Dialect Terms (often cap.) [Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S.] a treeless mountaintop or area near the top: often used as part of a proper name.

• Middle English ball(e)d, equivalent. to ball white spot (compare Welsh bal, Greek phaliós having a white spot) + -ed -ed³ 1250–1300

bald′ish, adj. 
bald′ly, adv. 
bald′ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 4. bare, barefaced, flagrant, patent, utter, out-and-out, downright, flat-out.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bald / bɔːld/ adjective

1. having no hair or fur, esp having no hair on all or most of the scalp
2. lacking natural growth or covering
3. plain or blunt: a bald statement
4. bare or simple; unadorned
5. Also: baldfaced (of certain birds and other animals) having white markings on the head and face
6. (of a tyre) having a worn tread

Etymology: 14th Century ballede (literally: having a white spot); related to Danish bǣldet, Greek phalaros having a white spot

ˈbaldish adjective

ˈbaldly adverb

ˈbaldness noun