Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having or showing no emotion; unfeeling.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Lacking or not showing emotion.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

affect +‎ -less

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Examples

  • Strange ... during the McCain announcement, which I watched online, I was talking with a friend over the phone & mentioned that Palin's older daughters seemed kind of affectless and unhappy (or that was the vibe I got anyway).

    McCain Campaign: Palin's 17-Year-Old Daughter Is Pregnant 2009

  • A chorus of similar young men and women narrate these overlapping stories, and all share an affectless monotone, whether they're describing having an affair with a teacher, like April in her self-titled story, or gang-raping a girl, like Roberto in "China town."

    Gaudy Grossness and Other Stories 2010

  • Given that finally we don't know which person he really is, the original more affectless reaction seems the right one, but many readers might find this unregulated drift in our disposition toward the character unsettling.

    Readers in the English-Speaking World 2010

  • At times he comes across as a lettered, affectless Jeremy Clarkson France's car dependency gives the lie to "that universally preached, seldom practised, utterly trite and entirely unrealistic doctrine of sustainability," says Meades, with as much feeling as if he were reading out a recipe for crêpes suzette.

    TV review: Jonathan Meades on France; Bouncers 2012

  • Given that finally we don't know which person he really is, the original more affectless reaction seems the right one, but many readers might find this unregulated drift in our disposition toward the character unsettling.

    May 2010 2010

  • It may strike some as affectless, but anyone familiar with Marines will likely recognize in Bacon the almost exaggerated courtesy officers use when officially out in public.

    'Taking Chance' follows a fallen Marine's journey home 2009

  • Writer-director Bruno Dumont's latest film is a typically flat, affectless work in which you spend much of the film puzzling out exactly who is who and what is going on.

    Michael Giltz: Cannes 2011 Day Six: Malick's Latest Opus, A Dour Dumont and Australia's Most Infamous Serial Killer Michael Giltz 2011

  • Given that finally we don't know which person he really is, the original more affectless reaction seems the right one, but many readers might find this unregulated drift in our disposition toward the character unsettling.

    Experimental Fiction 2010

  • Writer-director Bruno Dumont's latest film is a typically flat, affectless work in which you spend much of the film puzzling out exactly who is who and what is going on.

    Michael Giltz: Cannes 2011 Day Six: Malick's Latest Opus, A Dour Dumont and Australia's Most Infamous Serial Killer Michael Giltz 2011

  • Given that finally we don't know which person he really is, the original more affectless reaction seems the right one, but many readers might find this unregulated drift in our disposition toward the character unsettling.

    The Reading Experience 2010

Comments

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  • "His prose style is disinvested in -- and as affectless as -- his protagonists." John Bailey on DeLillo's Falling Man

    July 7, 2007