Meanings
sans1
- defectivehumorousliteraryoftenWithout; lacking; especially with regard to something expected or with precedent.
Bero[wne]. […] And to begin Wench, ſo God helpe me law, My loue to thee is ſound, ſance cracke or flaw. Roſa[line]. Sans, ſans, I pray you.
c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby, published 1598, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], signature H3, recto4 more examples
Those with brooms started to sweep literally, at the feet of the crowd, driving it back into the side streets from which it had emerged to form this assembly – now riders sans steeds.
1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Qutet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 766But regardless of when Wally had parked himself out in that backyard—sans coat or jacket—somehow, the old lady must have known where Wally would be before he drove out to the Isaacs trailer—or else she followed him out there from his house.
1991, A. R. Morlan, The Amulet, page 212Skin needs ultraviolet radiation to begin the synthesis of vitamin D, but dermatologists say you can probably get the necessary electromagnetic input from a mere 20 minutes of sun exposure a week, as you go about your daily affairs, sunblocked and sans beach.
2007 September 4, Natalie Angier, “A Supple Casing, Prone to Damage”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2021The fella in question was still sitting at his table, sans everything above the neckerchief. There was blood everywhere, and brain matter, and bits of skull, and what looked like very expensive bone china.
2023 June 25, HarryBlank, “Transposthumousism”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 18 Dec 2024
- abbreviationellipsisnot comparablemediaEllipsis of sans serif.
sans2
- pluralplural of san
SAns3
- pluralplural of SAn
SANs4
- pluralplural of SAN
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositionWithout; lacking; especially with regard to something expected or with precedent.
Origin
sans · preposition, adjective
- Latinsine“without”
- Old Frenchsans
- Middle Englishsaunz
- Englishsans
From Middle English saunz, sans, borrowed from Old French sans, senz, sens, from Latin sine (“without”) conflated with absēns (“absent, remote”). Compare French sans, Italian senza, Portuguese sem, and Spanish sin.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with sans
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
sans. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sans
“sans.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sans. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sans,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sans.
Source: sans on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.