sere
1 Americanadjective
noun
noun
adjective
verb
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The entire sequence of ecological communities successively occupying an area from the initial stage to the climax community.
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See more at succession
Etymology
Origin of sere1
before 900; Middle English seer ( e ), Old English sēar; see sear 1
Origin of sere2
First recorded in 1915–20; back formation from series
Explanation
You can describe something that is dried up, withered, or without moisture with the adjective sere. The desert climate, for example, is sere, as is your skin after a day in the wind. Sere’s shriveled and withered meaning crops up in things like Shakespeare's Macbeth ("My way of life Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf;" 5:III), or in archaic references to Sere-month (August), but it isn't frequently used in modern conversation. The variant spelling of sere is sear, which has other meanings that see more modern use.
Vocabulary lists containing sere
Words from Shakespearean Insults
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Beowulf: A New Telling
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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Indeed, the opening image of “Bardo” suggests that Iñárritu has created “Birdman 2.0,” as a man, seen only as his shadow, repeatedly takes flight over a sere desert landscape.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 9, 2022
And in that sere landscape, you watch as a man’s identity dries up and blows away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 2022
Some of the best of what was left of what had been a rolling inland sea of sere, sage green.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 7, 2021
I fear the only people who ate the treats from that American airdrop were journalists scouring the sere landscape for shiny packets of cookies.
From New York Times ● Jan. 2, 2021
"Before they come? Why—they're here, you puddenhead. It's the trees themselves. We're in a sere wood."
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
