infertile
Americanadjective
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not fertile; unproductive; sterile; barren.
infertile soil.
adjective
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not capable of producing offspring; sterile
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(of land) not productive; barren
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Not capable of reproducing.
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Not capable of developing into a complete organism, as infertile eggs.
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Relating to soil or land that is not capable of supporting or is unfavorable to the growth of plants.
Other Word Forms
- infertilely adverb
- infertileness noun
- infertility noun
Etymology
Origin of infertile
From the Latin word infertilis, dating back to 1590–1600. See in- 3, fertile
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.
Tens of thousands of people, including infertile and same-sex couples, have had babies through the technological advances of in vitro fertilization and the willingness of surrogates to carry those children.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 28, 2025
Carrillo, 46, had been told by doctors years ago that she was infertile.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2025
The Indian government also opposed the couple’s petition, saying that surrogacy laws in India were meant to assist infertile couples or women, not people who wanted to have a grandchild.
From BBC • Oct. 8, 2024
Carrying around little cups of sperm as political protest, to mock infertile people, is most likely a fake scandal, but not being able to have kids easily is rough.
From Slate • Aug. 23, 2024
In fact, pretty soon all the females became infertile, the billys impotent, and Timoteo’s huge flock dwindled away to nothing—all because Cleofes Apoda- ca’s evil eye had caused the hermaphrodite to be born.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.