Meanings
- not comparableLacking muscle tissue.
Many people came there now—masculine women and muscleless men, for the most part.
1904, James Branch Cabell, chapter 3, in The Eagle’s Shadow, New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., page 332 more examples
Sometimes she stood them in lines in her room and made them recite arithmetic tables, flogging the inaccurate with as much vigour as her arms would allow, flabby, muscleless arms, broad and loose towards the armpit, and swinging like dead flesh.
1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, Vintage International, published 2001, Part Two, Chapter 5In all these studies, the tendons that develop best in muscleless limbs are digital tendons.
2000, M. Benjamin, J. R. Ralphs, “The Cell and Developmental Biology of Tendons and Ligaments”, in International Review of Cytology, page 116 - not comparableFeeble, weak, lacking strength or power.
I stress that a golfer cannot ever be too boneless or too loose, nor too muscleless.
2005, George Peper, editor, The Secret of Golf, page 3821 more example
As they came near, even Marcia could note the sleek, soft look of the men, and their listless, muscleless gait; while their leader's hair and person literally reeked with perfumes.
1901, Duffield Osborne, The Lion’s Brood, Part II, Chapter 2
Origin
Cite this entry
muscleless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/muscleless
“muscleless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/muscleless. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “muscleless,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/muscleless.
Source: muscleless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.