Meanings
comparative more defenseless · superlative most defenseless · alternative defenceless
- Lacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack.
Her look, her attitude, her words were eloquent of the age-old appeal of defenseless woman to her natural protector—man.
1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 441 more example
On the port tack layline , you're defenseless against starboard tackers — you have to dip them , no matter how much you may lose doing it — and the wind shadow of boats spinnakering away from the mark can cost you plenty.
1995, Tom Linskey, Race Winning StrategiesSynonyms: naked
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveLacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivelacking protection or support
adjectivehaving no protecting or concealing cover
adjectivelacking weapons for self-defense
adverbwithout defense
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishdefense
- Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
- Proto-Germanic*leusaną
- Proto-Germanic*lausaz
- Englishdefenseless
Translations
Arabic أَعْزَل
- أَعْزَل (ʔaʕzal)lacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Bulgarian беззащи́тен
- беззащи́тен (bezzaštíten)lacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Catalan indefens
- indefenslacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Czech bezbranný
- bezbrannýlacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Dutch weerloos
- weerlooslacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Finnish puolustuskyvytön
- puolustuskyvytönlacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
French sans défense
- sans défenselacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
German schutzlos, wehrlos
- schutzloslacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
- wehrloslacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Hindi अरक्षित
- अरक्षित (arakṣit)lacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Hungarian védtelen
- védtelenlacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Māori parekore, wawaukore
- parekorelacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
- wawaukorelacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Polish bezbronny, bezradny
- bezbronnylacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
- bezradnylacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
- bezsilnylacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Portuguese indefeso, indefenso
- indefesolacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
- indefensolacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Russian беззащи́тный
- беззащи́тный (bezzaščítnyj)lacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Spanish indefenso, desamparado
- indefensolacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
- desamparadolacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Swedish försvarslös
- försvarslöslacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Turkish korumasız, savunmasız
- korumasızlacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
- savunmasızlacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Ukrainian безза́хисний, беззахи́сний
- безза́хисний (bezzáxysnyj)lacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
- беззахи́сний (bezzaxýsnyj)lacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Vietnamese không được bảo vệ, không được phòng thủ
- không được bảo vệlacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
- không được phòng thủlacking any form of defense; vulnerable; open to attack
Cite this entry
defenseless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defenseless
“defenseless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defenseless. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “defenseless,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defenseless.
Source: defenseless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.