Meanings
- not comparableLacking a subject (citizen).
The subjects without King can do nothing; the subjectless King can do something.
1840, Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and Hero Worship - not comparableLacking a subject or theme.
Using a painstaking technique favored by 15th-century Italians for their most sacred images, Young makes disarmingly beautiful pictures in a loose, almost subjectless language of color and texture and form.
1992 May 8, Mitchell Stevens, “Andrew Young”, in Chicago Reader - not comparablegrammarLacking a grammatical subject.
“We’re here to help you” versus “Were here to help you” makes no sense; a subjectless, past-tense message — as in, “The doctors were here to help you, but now they’re gone” — has scarcely appeared in the history of the universe.
2007 July 15, Ann Hodgman, “Children’s Books”, in New York Times
Origin
Translations
Finnish subjektiton, alamaiseton
- subjektitonlacking subject
- alamaisetonlacking subject
Polish bezpodmiotowy
- bezpodmiotowyin grammar
Cite this entry
subjectless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subjectless
“subjectless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subjectless. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “subjectless,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subjectless.
Source: subjectless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.