Meanings
comparative more -less · superlative most -less · alternative obsolete -lesse
- not comparableusuallyLacking (something); without (something). Added usually to a noun to form an adjective signifying a lack of that noun.
aweless, skill-less, artless, doubtless, countless, soulless, will-less, tireless.
1 more example
The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.
2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist
Synonyms & antonyms
suffixLacking (something); without (something). Added usually to a noun to form an adjective signifying a lack of that noun.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
- Proto-Germanic*leusaną
- Proto-Germanic*lausaz
- English-less
From Middle English -les, -leas, from Old English -lēas (“-less”) (compare lēas (“devoid of, loose from, false”)), from Proto-West Germanic *-laus, from Proto-Germanic *-lausaz, from *lausaz (“loose”). (Not related to less, which derives from *laisiz, *laisizô.) Cognate with Scots -less, West Frisian -leas, Saterland Frisian -loos, Dutch -loos, Low German -los, German -los, Danish -løs, Swedish -lös, Icelandic -laus. More at loose.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans ont-
- ont-lacking
Arabic بِلَا, غَيْر ...
- بِلَا (bilā)lacking
- غَيْر ... (ḡayr ...)lacking
Basque -gabe
- -gabelacking
Bengali -হীন
- -হীন (-hin)lacking
Bulgarian без
- без (bez)lacking
Catalan sense
- senselacking
Chinese Mandarin 無- /无-
- 無- /无- (wú-)lacking
Czech bez-
- bez-lacking
Danish -løs
- -løslacking
Dutch -loos, zonder
- -looslacking
- zonderlacking
Esperanto sen-
- sen-lacking
Estonian -ta, -tu
- -talacking
- -tulacking
Finnish -ton, -tön
- -tonlacking
- -tönlacking
French sans ...
- sans ...lacking
German -los
- -loslacking
Greek α-, αν-
- α- (a-)lacking
- αν- (an-)lacking
- λιπο- (lipo-)lacking
Hebrew אל
- אל ('ál-)lacking
Hindi -हीन
- -हीन (-hīn)lacking
Hungarian -talan, -telen
- -talanlacking
- -telenlacking
- -atlanlacking
- -etlenlacking
- -tlanlacking
- -tlenlacking
- -hatatlanlacking
- -hetetlenlacking
- menteslacking
- nélkülilacking
Icelandic -laus, -vana
- -lauslacking
- -vanalacking
Indonesian nir-
- nir-lacking
Irish gan
- ganlacking
Italian senza, in-
- senzalacking
- in-lacking
- s-lacking
- dis-lacking
Japanese -無し, 無-
- -無し (-nashi)lacking
- 無- (mu-)lacking
- -ない (-nai)lacking
- 低- (tei-)lacking
Latin sine, in-
- sinelacking
- in-lacking
- ne-lacking
- se-lacking
Latvian bez
- bezlacking
Lithuanian be-
- be-lacking
Malay nir-, nis-
- nir-lacking
- nis-lacking
Māori kore
- korelacking
Norwegian -løs
- -løslacking
Persian بیـ
- بیـ (bi-)lacking
Polish bez-
- bez-lacking
Portuguese sem, des-
- semlacking
- des-lacking
Punjabi -ਹੀਨ
- -ਹੀਨ (-hīn)lacking
Romanian fără
- fărălacking
Russian без(ъ)-, бес(ъ)-
- без(ъ)-lacking
- бес(ъ)-lacking
Scottish Gaelic gun
- gunlacking
Slovak bez-
- bez-lacking
Spanish sin, des-
- sinlacking
- des-lacking
Swahili bila
- bilalacking
Swedish -lös
- -löslacking
Tagalog pugot ang, walang
- pugot anglacking
- walanglacking
Turkish -siz, -sız
- -sizlacking
- -sızlacking
- -suzlacking
- -süzlacking
Ukrainian без-
- без- (bez-)lacking
Vietnamese cây đinh không
- cây đinh khônglacking
Welsh di-, di
- di-lacking
- dilacking
Yiddish ־לאָז
- ־לאָז (-loz)lacking
Cite this entry
-less. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-less
“-less.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-less. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-less,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-less.
Source: -less on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.