Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Lacking energy or enthusiasm; listless.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Having no breath; extinct; dead.
- Having no spirit, vigor, courage, or fire; without one's customary vivacity; wanting cheerfulness; dejected; depressed.
Wiktionary
- adj. Lacking energy, drive, motivation or emotion. Enervated.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Destitute of spirit; wanting animation; wanting cheerfulness; dejected; depressed.
- adj. Destitute of vigor; wanting life, courage, or fire.
- adj. Having no breath; extinct; dead.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. evidencing little spirit or courage; overly submissive or compliant
- adj. lacking ardor or vigor or energy
Etymologies
- spirit + -less (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The evening was passed in spiritless conversation, or in listening to the piano-forte, upon which Indiana, with the utmost difficulty, played some very easy lessons.”
“Al-Zaidi said last month that the president's talk of "victory," combined with what the journalist called his spiritless smile, proved too much after years of war and destruction following the U. S.-led invasion.”
“In Delhi, India, it was described to perfection by one Indian journalist -- "spiritless".”
Rebecca Novick: Searching For the Olympic Spirit in New Delhi
“A furious Ratten, who described his players as "spiritless" in the second half, has ordered them to bring their mouthguards to training this week as he searches for answers the old-fashioned way.”
“Clinton reassured Cornwallis that he faced only 2000 regular Continentals, plus a small body of ill-armed "spiritless" "peasantry".”
“1781, Clinton reassured Cornwallis that he faced only 2000 regular Continentals, plus a small body of ill-armed "spiritless" "peasantry".”
“Their song, if one can name it such, is a tuneless ditty of five notes that seems somehow tentative and spiritless.”
“There was only Addae hunting bats in the spiritless bush, and Tessa teaching him to play Truth or Dare.”
“After England's spiritless World Cup collapse this time last year, and the mediocrities of the 2010-11 premiership season, perhaps we could do with Keegan's "positive attitude", and his return to football management.”
“A regular ensign had drilled the Virginians, but Orme said of them, “their languid, spiritless and unsoldierlike appearance, considered with the lowness and ignorance of most of their officers, gave little hope of their future good behaviour.””
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘spiritless’.
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-more or -less
Words ending with *more or *less, more or less. Many of theses terms also appear on the list The -less Said, which see.
schemaless, jobless, endless, useless, unless, guileless, wireless, regardless, homeless, nevertheless, countless, doubtless and 434 more...
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Sorrow is better than laughter; for b...
lachrymose, sorrow, melancholic, wail, mournful, sob, misery, wretchedness, anguish, agony, heartbreak, lament and 38 more...
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less 'suffix
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The -less Said...
hopeless, bootless, groundless, luckless, artless, feckless, hapless, joyless, useless, penniless, childless, peerless and 310 more...
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Numbrella ☂
Unfeeling; comfortably dry.
"Ella, ella, ella..."schmaltzy, nonchalant, joyless, aloof, lifeless, indifferent, dead, uninspired, lethargic, preoccupied, distant, removed and 50 more...
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snow words
corn snow, freeze, frazil, sastruga, diamond dust, sérac, floe, spiritless
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