An area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.

"The pine barrens are a site lonely enough to suit any hermit."

Unable to bear children; sterile.

"I silently wept as my daughter's husband rejected her. What would she do now that she was no longer a maiden but also barren?"

Of poor fertility, infertile; not producing vegetation.

Bleak.

Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty.

Mentally dull; stupid.