toothless
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈtuθləs/
ipa: /ˈtuθlɪs/
Forms: form: more toothless
form: most toothless
Etymology: From Middle English tothles, from Old English tōþlēas, from Proto-Germanic *tanþlausaz (“toothless”), equivalent to tooth + -less. Cognate with Dutch tandeloos (“toothless”), German Low German tannlos (“toothless”), German zahnlos (“toothless”), Danish tandløs (“toothless”), Swedish tandlös (“toothless”), Icelandic tannlaus (“toothless”).
Senses: examples: text: a toothless old man
text: She goes on to explain the difficulty she's having getting visas for Lawrence and for Robert, the 14-year-old who is her older brother and is, amazingly, the last child of the toothless tiny woman who buzzes around us. (I find out later that she is only in her mid-fifties.)
ref: 1983 December 24, Andrea Loewenstein, “"What's Freedom Without Food In Your Stomach?" -- A Trip to Haiti”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 23, page 8:
synonyms: edentate
edentulous
teethless
antonyms: dentate
dentiferous
dentigerous
dentulous
toothed
toothy
glosses: Having no teeth.
examples: text: The treaty was toothless because of the lack of participation from the undersigned.
text: Not tell? Ha! ha! I could ſmile, / At this old, and toothleſſe vvile.
ref: 1603 July 5 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), B[en] Jon[son], “A Particular Entertainment of the Queene and Prince Their Highnesse to Althrope, at the Right Honourable the Lord Spencers, on Saterday being the 25. of Iune 1603. as They Came First into the Kingdome; […]”, in B. Jon: His Part of King James His Royall and Magnificent Entertainement through His Honorable Cittie of London, Thurseday the 15. of March. 1603. […], London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] [and George Eld] for Edward Blount, published 1604, →OCLC, page 7:
text: Bans of the sale of human remains across platforms like Facebook, Etsy, Instagram and eBay are toothless and poorly enforced, Huffer said. And when a page does get shut down, he said, it just pops up on a different website.
ref: 2021 October 10, Caroline Anders, “A TikTok bone salesman’s wall of spines reignites ethical debate over selling human remains”, in The Washington Post:
text: The glut of moronic, Roganesque dude-bro podcasts are long overdue for mocking, but this one is toothless.
ref: 2024 November 17, Zach Vasquez, “Saturday Night Live: Charli xcx has fun in otherwise middle of the road episode”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
synonyms: word: tame
word: anemic
word: breakable
word: broken-down
word: damaged
word: debilitated
word: decrepit
word: delicate
word: dickless
word: effete
word: enervated
word: enfeebled
word: exhausted
word: faint
word: feeble
word: flimsy
word: fragile
word: frail
word: harmed
word: hurt
word: impaired
word: impotent
word: infirm
word: injured
word: languid
word: low
word: powerless
word: prostrated
word: prostrate
word: puny
word: raddled
word: resistless
word: sapped
word: slightsoft
word: softened
word: susceptible
word: tender
word: tired
word: torpid
word: unresistant
word: vincible
word: vulnerable
word: wasted
word: weak
word: weakened
word: weary
word: weedy
word: wimpy
word: worn out
word: yielding
glosses: Weak; having no ability to enforce something.
Derived terms: toothlessly
toothlessness
toothless whale
Related terms: canine-toothless
front-toothless