Meanings
moonless1
- not comparableDuring which no phase of the Moon is visible to provide light, whether because of cloud cover or because of a new moon.
They could not see through the starless, moonless darkness.
1961, Tom Mead, Killers of Eden, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 631 more example
And they played softly in the Aeolian mode a music that was like the wailing of wind through bare branches on a moonless night, and the Red Foliot leaned forth from his high seat and recited this lamentation: […]
1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 31 - informalnot comparableHaving no natural satellite.
Moonless2
- not comparableWithout the Moon.
Presumably a Moonless world would still have had weather patterns, including rain, so erosion would have taken place but on a tiny scale compared with what happened when the Moon was so much closer to the Earth.
2005, Christopher Knight, Alan Butler, Who Built the Moon?, Watkins Books, →ISBN2 more examples
We believe the Moon has been beneficial for the development of life here, but we do not know whether the Moon was necessary for life. Perhaps if we lived on a Moonless world we would be grateful we did not have one of those huge chunks of rock hanging so close to us in the sky.
2002, Stephen Webb, “They Do Not Exist”, in If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens … Where Is Everybody?: Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life, Copernicus Books in association with Praxis Publishing Ltd., →ISBN, solution 42, “The Moon Is Unique”, page 189What might this world lack that is as hard to imagine as the Moon would be on an unMooned Earth? Of what absences are we unaware? As well as an absence, the Moonless world would be marked by difference. Folklore, nocturnal action and assignation, marine and maritime life: all would be otherwise.
2019, Oliver Morton, The Moon: A History for the Future, The Economist Books, →ISBN, →LCCN
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveDuring which no phase of the Moon is visible to provide light, whether because of cloud cover or because of a new moon.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivewithout a moon or a visible moon
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
moonless · adjective
- Proto-Indo-European*med-
- Proto-Indo-European*meh₁-?
- Proto-Indo-European*mḗh₁n̥s
- Proto-Germanic*mēnô
- Proto-West Germanic*mānō
- Old Englishmōna
- Middle Englishmone
- Englishmoon
- Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
- Proto-Germanic*leusaną
- Proto-Germanic*lausaz
- Englishmoonless
Translations
Ancient Greek ἀσέληνος
- ἀσέληνος (asélēnos)during which the Moon is not visible
Esperanto senluna, senluna
- senlunaduring which the Moon is not visible
- senlunahaving no natural satellite
Finnish kuuton
- kuutonduring which the Moon is not visible
French sans lune
- sans luneduring which the Moon is not visible
German mondlos
- mondlosduring which the Moon is not visible
Greek ασέληνος
- ασέληνος (asélinos)during which the Moon is not visible
Italian illune
- illuneduring which the Moon is not visible
Latin illūnis
- illūnisduring which the Moon is not visible
Polish bezksiężycowy, bezksiężycowy
- bezksiężycowyduring which the Moon is not visible
- bezksiężycowyhaving no natural satellite
Russian безлу́нный
- безлу́нный (bezlúnnyj)during which the Moon is not visible
Swedish månlös
- månlösduring which the Moon is not visible
Ukrainian безмі́сячний
- безмі́сячний (bezmísjačnyj)during which the Moon is not visible
Cite this entry
moonless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moonless
“moonless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moonless. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “moonless,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moonless.
Source: moonless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.