wingless

W4I1N1G2L1E1S1S1

adjective

Having no, or only rudimentary, wings.

Similar
apterousunwingedapteralflightless
Opposite
winged
OriginProto-Germanic *lausaz ← Proto-Indo-European *lewHs- ← English wing →
UncommonScrabble 12
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Meanings

adjectivewingless (not comparable)
  1. not comparableHaving no, or only rudimentary, wings.

    Soon the plate was full of wingless bats and batless wings. He covered the plate of broken bats and quickly unwrapped the plate of cat cookies. Snap, snap, snap went their tails. Snap, snap, snap went their legs.

    2010, Ann M. Jayne, Kory's Jungle, page 145
    1 more example

    I was so thrilled to see a live bedbug, I showed it off to every graduate student I ran into that day: Cimex lectularius[,] a small, flat, wingless, brown ectoparasite that hides in cracks and crevices in human dwellings and emerges under cover of darkness to feast on human blood.

    2010 August 7, May Berenbaum, “This Bedbug’s Life”, in The New York Times

    Synonyms: apterous, unwinged · Antonyms: winged

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveHaving no, or only rudimentary, wings.

Similar
apterousunwinged
Opposite
winged

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivelacking wings

Similar
apterousapteralflightless
Opposite
winged
Also see
apteralapterousflightlessunwinged

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Englishwing
  2. Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
  4. Proto-Germanic*leusaną
  5. Proto-Germanic*lausaz
  6. Englishwingless

From wing + -less.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἄπτερος
  • ἄπτερος (ápteros)lacking wings
Bulgarian безкрил
  • безкрил (bezkril)lacking wings
Czech bezkřídlý
  • bezkřídlýlacking wings
Danish vingeløs, ubevinget
  • vingeløslacking wings
  • ubevingetlacking wings
Dutch vleugelloos
  • vleugellooslacking wings
Finnish siivetön
  • siivetönlacking wings
French aptère
  • aptèrelacking wings
German flügellos
  • flügelloslacking wings
Greek άπτερος
  • άπτερος (ápteros)lacking wings
Hungarian szárnyatlan
  • szárnyatlanlacking wings
Irish dísciathánach
  • dísciathánachlacking wings
Norwegian Bokmål vingeløs
  • vingeløslacking wings
Polish bezskrzydły
  • bezskrzydłylacking wings
Portuguese áptero
  • ápterolacking wings
Russian бескры́лый
  • бескры́лый (beskrýlyj)lacking wings
Swedish vinglös
  • vinglöslacking wings
Turkish kanatsız
  • kanatsızlacking wings
Ukrainian безкри́лий
  • безкри́лий (bezkrýlyj)lacking wings

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Wesslingswingles
Cite this entry
APA

wingless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wingless

MLA

“wingless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wingless. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wingless,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wingless.

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