rudderlessadj.
/ˈrʌdələs/, U.S. /ˈrədərləs/ 1. Of a boat, aeroplane, etc.: lacking a rudder; not fitted with a rudder.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > [adjective] > having or not having rudder or tiller
steerlessc1374
sternlessc1412
rudderless1606
unruddered1687
ruddered1794
tillerless1870
1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 60 Though Rudder-les [Fr. sans timon], not Pilot-les, this Boat Among the Reeds by the Floods side did float.
1730 A. Hill Plain Dealer (new ed.) II. cxi. 450 I look forward..with the Hope, and Expectation, of escaping Mariners, who having been sinking all Night long, in a Rudderless, and Foundring Vessel, discover..some lovely, though unknown Country!
1750 M. Morgan Scandalizade 6 Like a Ship, beating rudderless over the Main, You could not the Points of your Compass maintain.
1833 Belfast News-Let. 29 Nov. 2/4 Capt. Russell..took the passengers of the Fingal on board; and..attached his own vessel to the stern of the rudderless steamer.
1880 J. R. Macduff In Christo 1 Vessels tossed, unpiloted and rudderless, in the thick darkness.
1920 R. Hughes What's World coming To? v. 27 An old man with..not the faintest mental or mechanical equipment for repairing a rudderless airplane with a riddled gasolene tank.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 2 Oct. 18/3 Rudderless and without a keel, the 195-foot craft operates similar to a flat-bottomed fishing boat.
2008 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 30 Sept. 6 His seamanship and determination brought the lifeboat close to the powerless, rudderless cargo vessel no less than 50 times to ensure the safety of her..crew.
2. figurative. Lacking direction or control; having no clear aim or purpose; directionless, disorganized; characterized by this. Cf. rudder n. 2d.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > [adjective] > completely unchecked > without guidance or leadership
unmastered1565
unpruned1598
rudderless1828
unsupervised1899
1828 E. Bulwer-Lytton Pelham II. iii. 26 The countess, whose thoughts wandered..in the most rudderless manner.
1862 C. Kingsley Alton Locke (new ed.) ii. 20 I felt myself in a most distracted, rudderless state.
1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic xii. 384 That same rudderless and purposeless crowd of primeval atoms.
1887 W. B. Yeats Let. 11 Mar. (1954) 32 Please excuse this somewhat rudderless scrawl.
1944 Ld. Alanbrooke Diary 20 Nov. in War Diaries (2001) 627 Bedell Smith lives back in Paris quite out of touch, as a result the war is drifting in a rudderless condition.
1977 Oxf. Mission Q. Paper Jan.–Mar. 15 Young folk, often rudderless in their religious thinking and experience of life.
2005 New Yorker 7 Nov. 65/2 The Impressionists,..rudderless since the death of Manet..were mostly in rather precarious circumstances.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1606