Link Centre Dictionary

wordless

word·less

US/ˈwɜrdlʌs/ uncommon

adjective

1.

expressed without speech; especially because words would be inappropriate or inadequate

  • “a mute appeal”
  • “a silent curse”
  • “best grief is tongueless” Emily Dickinson
  • “the words stopped at her lips unsounded”
  • “unspoken grief”
  • “choking exasperation and wordless shame” Thomas Wolfe
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Middle English wordles, equivalent to word + -less. Compare Dutch woordeloos (“speechless, inexpressible in words”), German wortlos (“silent, speechless”), Danish ordløs (“wordless”), Swedish ordlös (“wordless”), Icelandic orðlaus (“wordless, speechless”).

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.