Meanings
comparative more wordless · superlative most wordless
- Conveyed without the use of words; unspoken or unsaid.
On any given Friday night at the Claremont Colleges, between 15 and 20 Jewish students gather to sing wordless melodies, dive into textual study of Talmud or James Baldwin, or hold workshops on antisemitism.
2019 July 3, Jess Schwalb, “Red Line Rebellion”, in Jewish Currents - Unable or unwilling to speak; dumb, silent or inarticulate.
Synonyms: speechless
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveUnable or unwilling to speak; dumb, silent or inarticulate.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveexpressed without speech
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishwordles
- Englishwordless
From Middle English wordles, equivalent to word + -less. Compare Dutch woordeloos (“speechless, inexpressible in words”), German wortlos (“silent, speechless”), Danish ordløs (“wordless”), Swedish ordlös (“wordless”), Icelandic orðlaus (“wordless, speechless”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian неизразен с думи, безмълвен
- неизразен с думи (neizrazen s dumi)unspoken
- безмълвен (bezmălven)unable or unwilling to speak
Finnish sanaton, mykkä
- sanatonunspoken
- mykkäunable or unwilling to speak
- sanatonunable or unwilling to speak
Hindi निःशब्द
- निःशब्द (niḥśabd)unable or unwilling to speak
Polish bezsłowny, bezwyrazowy
- bezsłownyunspoken
- bezwyrazowyunspoken
Vietnamese vô ngôn
- vô ngônunspoken
Cite this entry
wordless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wordless
“wordless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wordless. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wordless,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wordless.
Source: wordless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.