Meanings
nounumlessness (uncountable)
- rareuncountableThe avoidance of the hesitating interjection um in speech.
Yet umlessness was taught as the norm for private and intimate spheres of life.
2007, Michael Erard, Um... slips, stumbles, and verbal blunders, and what they mean1 more example
“People began to prefer umlessness in public speaking and conversation around the same time that they began to value order, organization, planning and efficiency in an increasingly complex and urbanizing society,” he writes.
2007 August 24, William Grimes, “Uh, Lead My Rips: No More Bloopers”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 04 Jan 2013
Origin
Cite this entry
APA
umlessness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/umlessness
MLA
“umlessness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/umlessness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “umlessness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/umlessness.
Source: umlessness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.