sunless

S1U1N1L1E1S1S1

adjective

Without the sun or sunshine; shaded; shadowed.

Similar
bleakgloomycheerlesscomfortlessdarkmorosedepressingdesolate
OriginProto-Germanic *lausaz ← Proto-Indo-European *lewHs- ← English sun →
Less commonScrabble 7
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Meanings

adjectivesunless (comparative more sunless, superlative most sunless)

comparative more sunless · superlative most sunless

  1. Without the sun or sunshine; shaded; shadowed.

    In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree: / Where Alph, the sacred river, ran / Through caverns measureless to man / Down to a sunless sea.

    1797, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Kubla Khan: Or A Vision in a Dream”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 55
  2. figurativelyDreary, cheerless.

    When I first saw her, her countenance was sunless, her complexion colourless; she looked like one who had no source of enjoyment, no store of bliss anywhere in the world.

    1857, Charlotte Brontë, chapter 18, in The Professor

    Synonyms: bleak, gloomy, cheerless, comfortless, bleak, dark, morose, depressing

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveDreary, cheerless.

Similar
bleakgloomycheerlesscomfortlessbleakdarkmorosedepressingdesolatediredisconsolatedismaldolefuldolesomedreardrearisomedrearydreichforlorngayless

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivefilled or abounding with clouds

Similar
cloud-coveredcloudedovercastcloudy
Also see
cloudeddarkovercast

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sóh₂wl̥
  2. Proto-Germanic*sunnô
  3. Proto-Germanic*sunnǭ
  4. Proto-West Germanic*sunnā
  5. Old Englishsunne
  6. Middle Englishsonne
  7. Englishsun
  8. Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
  10. Proto-Germanic*leusaną
  11. Proto-Germanic*lausaz
  12. Englishsunless

From sun + -less.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἀνήλιος
  • ἀνήλιος (anḗlios)without the sun or sunshine
Bulgarian мрачен, усоен
  • мрачен (mračen)without the sun or sunshine
  • усоен (usoen)without the sun or sunshine
Greek ανήλιαγος
  • ανήλιαγος (aníliagos)without the sun or sunshine
Polish bezsłoneczny
  • bezsłonecznywithout the sun or sunshine
Portuguese sombrio
  • sombriowithout the sun or sunshine
Swedish sollös
  • sollöswithout the sun or sunshine

Rhymes & wordplay

Sounds the same

sonless

Anagrams

Slussenunlesss
Cite this entry
APA

sunless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sunless

MLA

“sunless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sunless. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sunless,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sunless.

Source: sunless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.