Meanings
- not comparableWithout a tail; not having a tail.
Fossils show that the ancient primate Proconsul africanus, shown in the illustration above, was a tailless tree-dweller.
2024 March 23, Mindy Weisberger, “Why don’t humans have tails? Scientists find answers in an unlikely place”, in CNN, archived from the original on 27 Mar 20243 more examples
Cavies are caviomorphs. Caviomorphs are tailless South American rodents that are characterized by having one pair of mammae (teats), four digits on the forefoot, and three digits on the hind foot, as well as special anatomical features of the head and jaws.
2003, Sharon Lynn Vanderlip, The Guinea Pig Handbook, page 11The Manx Rat: This tailless rat variety is usually smaller than the standard rat with front legs that are shorter than its hind legs.
2006, Colin Patterson, Pet Rats, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 23Strictly speaking, the term toad should be restricted to members of the family Bufonidae, of which the common European and natterjack toads are good examples. But common parlance has seen the name applied to any warty tail-less amphibian.
2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 36
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishtailles
- Englishtailless
From Middle English tailles, equivalent to tail + -less.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἄκερκος
- ἄκερκος (ákerkos)without a tail
Catalan anur
- anurwithout a tail
Danish haleløs
- haleløswithout a tail
Finnish hännätön
- hännätönwithout a tail
French anoure
- anourewithout a tail
German schwanzlos
- schwanzloswithout a tail
Greek άκερκος
- άκερκος (ákerkos)without a tail
Norwegian Bokmål haleløs, halelaus
- haleløswithout a tail
- halelauswithout a tail
Polish bezogonowy
- bezogonowywithout a tail
Portuguese acaudado
- acaudadowithout a tail
Russian бесхвостый
- бесхвостый (besxvostyj)without a tail
Spanish rabón, chingo
- rabónwithout a tail
- chingowithout a tail
- jolínwithout a tail
- jolinowithout a tail
- cutowithout a tail
- chocowithout a tail
- chucutowithout a tail
- tusowithout a tail
- curtowithout a tail
- anurowithout a tail
- francolinowithout a tail
- cuncunowithout a tail
Tagalog punggi, tukong
- punggiwithout a tail
- tukongwithout a tail
Turkish kuyruksuz
- kuyruksuzwithout a tail
Welsh digynffon
- digynffonwithout a tail
Cite this entry
tailless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tailless
“tailless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tailless. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tailless,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tailless.
Source: tailless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.