Spell Bee Word: infertile

Basic Details

Word: Infertile

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Infertile land or soil cannot grow good crops. The word is also used for animals or plants that cannot produce young or seeds.

Synonyms: barren, unproductive

Antonyms: fertile, fruitful

How to Spell Infertile

Syllables: in - fer - tile

Tricky part: The end is tile, like a floor tile, not til or tial. The middle is fer, with an e, though it sounds like fur.

Watch out for: infertil, infurtile, infertial

Memory tip: Put in in front of fertile and finish with a floor tile: in-fer-TILE.

Usage Examples

Example 1: The farmer said the field near the brick kiln had become infertile after years of dust and smoke.

Example 2: Too much salt left behind by floods can make soil infertile.

Example 3: Grandpa digs cow-dung manure into the infertile patches of his kitchen garden.

Fun Fact

Pulses such as moong and chana add nitrogen back to the soil, so farmers often grow them between wheat or rice crops to stop the land from wearing out.

Practise the CREST Way

Word Connection

Choose the antonym of the word:

infertile

a) arid
b) barren
c) fertile
d) sterile

Word Cookie

Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:

inf_rt_le

a) i, i
b) e, i
c) e, a
d) u, i

Mingle-Mangle

Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:

trefiilne

a) infantile
b) inferior
c) fertilise
d) infertile

Multiple Choice Questions

1. A stretch of desert where almost no plant can grow is ____.

a) fragrant
b) flooded
c) crowded
d) infertile

2. What would help infertile soil the most?

a) removing all the worms
b) burying plastic
c) adding compost
d) pouring oil on it