Without socks or shoes (10) Crossword Clue
Answer: BAREFOOTED (10 letters)
The answer to the crossword clue "Without socks or shoes" with 10 letters is "BAREFOOTED". The answer BAREFOOTED comes from the clue "Without socks or shoes." The word "barefoot" refers to the state of not wearing shoes or socks, meaning the person is walking or standing with their feet exposed. The addition of the "ed" at the end of the word forms the adjective "barefooted," which describes a person in that condition.
Why “Barefooted” Fits
Without socks or shoes: “Barefooted” means not wearing any footwear, so it directly matches the clue’s definition “without socks or shoes.” Dictionaries treat “barefoot” and “barefooted” as variants, both glossed as “with the feet bare” or “not wearing anything on your feet,” which is exactly what the clue describes.vocabulary+5
A Bit of Background
“Barefooted” is a slightly longer, somewhat more old-fashioned variant of “barefoot,” but fully standard:
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Meaning and usage:
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Major dictionaries list “barefooted” as an adverb or adjective meaning “without shoes” or “with bare feet,” and often explicitly note it as a variant of “barefoot.”merriam-webster+5
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It appears in descriptions like “barefooted children,” “he walked barefooted across the yard,” or “she ran barefooted on the beach,” all emphasising the absence of shoes and socks.
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Frequency and style:
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Modern usage tends to prefer “barefoot,” but “barefooted” remains correct, especially in literary, descriptive, or slightly old-fashioned styles.dictionary+4
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Crossword Solving Insight
For a clue like “Without socks or shoes (10)”:
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Definition match: The clue is a direct restatement of the dictionary definition of “barefooted”—“not wearing any shoes or socks; with feet bare.”britannica+4
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Enumeration: BAREFOOTED is exactly ten letters, fitting the (10) pattern cleanly, whereas the more common “barefoot” is only eight letters and would not satisfy the grid.
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Word choice: Crossword setters often use the longer variant when the grid requires more letters; “barefooted” serves this purpose perfectly while remaining semantically precise and idiomatic.
Those factors—precise meaning, exact length, and recognised status as a standard variant—make BAREFOOTED an ideal answer to “Without socks or shoes (10).”
