wordlessadj.

Brit.

/ˈwəːdləs/, U.S.

/ˈwərdləs/

Forms: see word n. and -less suffix.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: word n., -less suffix.

Etymology: < word n. + -less suffix.

†a. Inexpressible in words; unspeakable, unutterable. Obsolete.

ΘΠ

the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > inexpressibility > [adjective]

unsayinglyOE

wordlessa1200

unanemneda1225

unspeaking1340

untellablea1382

unenarrable1382

unspeakablea1400

ineffablec1450

inenarrablec1450

indicible1480

enarrable1482

inexplicable1502

inspeakable?1504

innominable1532

unoutspeakable1535

unexpressable1548

innarrable1554

inpronunciable1554

uncommunicable1555

inexprimablea1577

unexpressiblea1586

unutterablea1586

expressless1590

nameless1597

recountless1601

inutterable1603

indeclarable1610

unnameable1610

unreportable1611

speakless1612

unexpressivea1616

inexpressiblea1631

utterless1643

inexpressive1652

unwordablec1660

incommunicable1694

paintless1729

descriptionless1749

undelineable1767

describeless1799

indefinable1810

undescribable1818

unqualifiable1822

untelling1823

utterless1832

unpindownable1915

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 113 Wordles song [L. iubilus] is þe herte michele blisse, þe heo haueð of heuenliche ðinge, and ne mai þeroffe be stille, ne mid worde hem atellen.

1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (1656) (1 Cor. xv. 51) 701 This, likely was one of those wordless words [ἄρρητα ῥήματα: 1611 unspeakable words] that Paul heard in his rapture, 2 Cor. 12. 4.

1683 E. Hooker in J. Pordage Theologia Mystica Pref. Epist. 66 Hee was caught up into the third Heaven..where Hee heard wordless Words (so the Græc most emphaticly) Words unutterabl, unexpressibl.

b. Not expressed in words; unspoken, unuttered.

ΘΠ

the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective]

unspeakinga1382

speechless1390

mutec1400

dumb1406

silenta1425

peaceablec1425

secretc1440

of few wordsa1500

tongue-tied1529

mum1532

closec1540

strait-laced1546

tongue-dumb1556

incommunicable1568

sparing1568

inconversable1577

retentive1599

wordless1604

mumbudget1622

uncommunicable1628

monastica1631

word-bound1644

on (also upon) the reserve1655

strait-mouthed1664

oyster-like1665

incommunicative1670

mumchance1681

speechless1726

taciturnous1727

tongue-tacked1727

monosyllabic1735

silentish1737

untalkative1739

silentious1749

buttoned-up1767

taciturn1771

close as wax1772

untittletattling1779

reticent1825

voiceless1827

say-nothing1838

unremonstrant1841

still1855

unvocal1858

inexpansive186.

short-tongued1864

non-communicating1865

tight-lipped1876

unworded1886

chup1896

tongue-bound1906

shut-mouthed1936

zip-lipped1943

shtum1958

the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] > not expressed in speech

speechless1600

wordless1604

tacid1651

voiceless1816

1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest Whore i. xi. sig. G4^v Hees angred now, because he vttred nothing: And wordlesse wrath breakes out more violent.

1633 P. Fletcher Elisa 118 in Purple Island So sat she joylesse down in wordlesse grief complaining.

1765 W. Stevenson Orig. Poems I. 158 Tears are the wordless language of the heart.

1821 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto III lviii. 32 The stern,..deep, and wordless ire Of a strong human heart.

1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 189 Some wordless prayer of agony.

1884 ‘E. Lyall’ We Two II. iii. 59 Love of the deepest sort is wordless.

1935 T. Wolfe Of Time & River i. 24 That intolerable and wordless joy of longing and desire, which only a Southerner can feel.

1985 I. Murdoch Good Apprentice ii. 244 The greatest part of Stuart's communication with the boy was wordless.

2005 K. MacNeil Stornoway Way 129 I walk the rest of the way in a dwam, ideas shifting, finicky, melting like Dali-clockwork into wordless philosophies in my head.

a. Of a person: not uttering a word; not speaking, silent, speechless. Of a feeling, emotional state, etc.: characterized by silence.

ΘΠ

the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] > characterized by lack of speech

dumba1538

silent1549

secret1556

wordless1594

mump1599

speechless1726

elinguid1775

1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. B3^v Her ioie with heaued-vp hand she doth expresse, And wordlesse so greetes heauen for his successe.

1598 Chaucers Dreame in T. Speght Wks. G. Chaucer f. 357^v /2 Wordlesse he was and semed sicke.

1852 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 5) 522 She, wordless, went, But looked her thanks.

1881 C. Rossetti Later Life iii, in Poems (1904) 298 Our wordless tearless numbness of distress.

1890 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 8 Feb. 300/2 The patient was quite speechless, or, at least, wordless.

1904 G. Watson Sunshine & Sentim. 188 I was unable to follow her, and stood dumfounded and wordless.

1948 Z. N. Hurston Seraph on Suwanee i. 10 He made two or three attempts to talk with the shy and almost wordless girl.

2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 21 June 27/1 ‘Salim’, a few pages about breaking down in the Sahara with a wordless Mauritanian truck driver.., is masterly.

b. Unable to speak; lacking the power of speech; (also) lacking words for expression.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > vocal disorders > [adjective] > dumb

speechlessa1000

dumbc1000

deaf and dumb?c1225

mutec1400

tongueless1447

voiceless1535

wordless1648

tongue-tied1707

deaf-dumb1822

deaf-mute1837

utterless1854

unspeakable1888

the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] > lacking words for expression

unspeechful1853

wordless1881

1648 J. Quarles Fons Lachrymarum 52 The wordless tongues of thirsty children cleave To their unliquid mouths.

a1770 C. Talbot Ess. Var. Subj. (1772) I. xxi. 169 Chill'd Fancy hears with awful Gloom opprest Thus by deep-felt, wordless Voice addrest.

1843 Illuminated Mag. 1 151 A stepless and a wordless child.

1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in Idylls of King 156 Lancelot marvell'd at the wordless man.

1881 E. F. Poynter Among the Hills I. 282 Her mind was too uncultivated, too wordless.

1901 S. Phillips Herod ii. 91 A spirit groping for the trick of speech, Mad for the ancient touches of the hand, Yet wordless, handless, helpless, near yet dumb, Close, yet unseen.

1977 P. Leach Baby & Child vi. 418 One child may stay wordless until she is two and a half and then produce three-word sentences.

2003 New Yorker 16 June 194/2 The wordless child she once was..was closer to reality than what her teacher had made of her through the imposition of ‘wordmindedness’.

a. Not accompanied by words. Of an utterance, vocal sound, etc.: not taking the form of words.

1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 422 The winged quiars,..Their sounds want sence; their notes are word-lesse still.

1658 J. Quarles Hist. Most Vile Dimagoras i. 5 At the last, these cryes, these groans, encreas'd Into a voice distinct, and after ceas'd Their wordless tones.

1737 A. Hill Tears of Muses 24 Near Opera's fribling Fugues, what Muse can stay? Where wordless Warblings winnow Thought, away!

1843 Stud. Sensation & Event 183 With wordless yells, they rage around the cave Like maddened tigers.

1855 P. J. Bailey Mystic 137 No wordless murmurs of expectant joy.

1922 G. K. Chesterton Man who knew too Much 258 The man..cast it down with a wordless sound more shocking than a curse.

1958 J. Barth End of Road vii. 117 We spent a wordless, tumultuous night together, full of tumblings and flexings and shudders.

1997 J. Hynes Publish & Perish 328 The man was spiraling upward.., his wordless scream dopplering past.

b. Of music, a play, etc.: performed without words.

1797 J. Penn Critic. Poet. Wks. 39 I will content myself with citing the verses of Juvenal, which relate to the effect produced by these wordless spectacles, upon the spectator.

1882 J. Hawthorne Fortune's Fool (1883) xxx The little wordless song which his..mother had sung.

1897 Westm. Gaz. 9 Jan. 3/2 The history of wordless plays on the modern London stage.

1919 P. G. Wodehouse Their Mutual Child i. iv. 45 She had played a wordless part in the comedy in which Percy Shanklyn had appeared as the English dude and was on terms of friendship with him.

1941 J. Homer Dawn Watch in China iv. 93 Six or eight or a dozen oarsmen,..singing in unison the minor wordless river chant of the sacred Yangtze.

2005 Guardian 29 July (Friday Review section) 8/3 Around the time rock was born, a whole genre arose out of wordless singing, called, with suitable onomatopeia, doowop.

Derivatives

ˈwordlessly adv.

ΘΠ

the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adverb]

in silencea1382

without language?c1450

sub silentio1563

monkishly1595

wordlessly1840

pauciloquently1844

speechlessly1847

taciturnly1847

reticently1859

incommunicativelya1862

1840 B. E. Hill Pinch—of Snuff 98 She took a pinch, wordlessly bidding me to do the same.

1891 M. M. Dowie Girl in Karpathians xiii. 178 We were left..wordlessly grateful.

2005 Time Out 7 Dec. 147/2 (advt.) The play offers no answers, but its final scene, in which Peter wordlessly bed-bathes Rachel, is tender and strangely cathartic.

ˈwordlessness n.

ΘΠ

the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [noun] > lacking words for expression

wordlessness1834

1834 Amer. Ladies' Mag. May 204 The peculiarity of their attachment,..its wordlessness, and its mysterious ending, all had charms.

1921 Musical Times 62 12/1 An entirely lyric song passes almost into wordlessness; as we find in Grieg's familiar Solveig's Song, where at the most poignant moment the music actually becomes wordless.

2003 S. Alexie Ten Little Indians 52 She felt that her silence, her wordlessness, might be the only thing she could give him.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

单词	wordless
释义	wordlessadj. Brit. /ˈwəːdləs/, U.S. /ˈwərdləs/ Forms: see word n. and -less suffix. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: word n., -less suffix. Etymology: < word n. + -less suffix. 1. †a. Inexpressible in words; unspeakable, unutterable. Obsolete. ΘΠ the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > inexpressibility > [adjective] unsayinglyOE wordlessa1200 unanemneda1225 unspeaking1340 untellablea1382 unenarrable1382 unspeakablea1400 ineffablec1450 inenarrablec1450 indicible1480 enarrable1482 inexplicable1502 inspeakable?1504 innominable1532 unoutspeakable1535 unexpressable1548 innarrable1554 inpronunciable1554 uncommunicable1555 inexprimablea1577 unexpressiblea1586 unutterablea1586 expressless1590 nameless1597 recountless1601 inutterable1603 indeclarable1610 unnameable1610 unreportable1611 speakless1612 unexpressivea1616 inexpressiblea1631 utterless1643 inexpressive1652 unwordablec1660 incommunicable1694 paintless1729 descriptionless1749 undelineable1767 describeless1799 indefinable1810 undescribable1818 unqualifiable1822 untelling1823 utterless1832 unpindownable1915 a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 113 Wordles song [L. iubilus] is þe herte michele blisse, þe heo haueð of heuenliche ðinge, and ne mai þeroffe be stille, ne mid worde hem atellen. 1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (1656) (1 Cor. xv. 51) 701 This, likely was one of those wordless words [ἄρρητα ῥήματα: 1611 unspeakable words] that Paul heard in his rapture, 2 Cor. 12. 4. 1683 E. Hooker in J. Pordage Theologia Mystica Pref. Epist. 66 Hee was caught up into the third Heaven..where Hee heard wordless Words (so the Græc most emphaticly) Words unutterabl, unexpressibl. b. Not expressed in words; unspoken, unuttered. ΘΠ the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] unspeakinga1382 speechless1390 mutec1400 dumb1406 silenta1425 peaceablec1425 secretc1440 of few wordsa1500 tongue-tied1529 mum1532 closec1540 strait-laced1546 tongue-dumb1556 incommunicable1568 sparing1568 inconversable1577 retentive1599 wordless1604 mumbudget1622 uncommunicable1628 monastica1631 word-bound1644 on (also upon) the reserve1655 strait-mouthed1664 oyster-like1665 incommunicative1670 mumchance1681 speechless1726 taciturnous1727 tongue-tacked1727 monosyllabic1735 silentish1737 untalkative1739 silentious1749 buttoned-up1767 taciturn1771 close as wax1772 untittletattling1779 reticent1825 voiceless1827 say-nothing1838 unremonstrant1841 still1855 unvocal1858 inexpansive186. short-tongued1864 non-communicating1865 tight-lipped1876 unworded1886 chup1896 tongue-bound1906 shut-mouthed1936 zip-lipped1943 shtum1958 the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] > not expressed in speech speechless1600 wordless1604 tacid1651 voiceless1816 1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest Whore i. xi. sig. G4^v Hees angred now, because he vttred nothing: And wordlesse wrath breakes out more violent. 1633 P. Fletcher Elisa 118 in Purple Island So sat she joylesse down in wordlesse grief complaining. 1765 W. Stevenson Orig. Poems I. 158 Tears are the wordless language of the heart. 1821 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto III lviii. 32 The stern,..deep, and wordless ire Of a strong human heart. 1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 189 Some wordless prayer of agony. 1884 ‘E. Lyall’ We Two II. iii. 59 Love of the deepest sort is wordless. 1935 T. Wolfe Of Time & River i. 24 That intolerable and wordless joy of longing and desire, which only a Southerner can feel. 1985 I. Murdoch Good Apprentice ii. 244 The greatest part of Stuart's communication with the boy was wordless. 2005 K. MacNeil Stornoway Way 129 I walk the rest of the way in a dwam, ideas shifting, finicky, melting like Dali-clockwork into wordless philosophies in my head. 2. a. Of a person: not uttering a word; not speaking, silent, speechless. Of a feeling, emotional state, etc.: characterized by silence. ΘΠ the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] > characterized by lack of speech dumba1538 silent1549 secret1556 wordless1594 mump1599 speechless1726 elinguid1775 1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. B3^v Her ioie with heaued-vp hand she doth expresse, And wordlesse so greetes heauen for his successe. View more context for this quotation 1598 Chaucers Dreame in T. Speght Wks. G. Chaucer f. 357^v /2 Wordlesse he was and semed sicke. 1852 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 5) 522 She, wordless, went, But looked her thanks. 1881 C. Rossetti Later Life iii, in Poems (1904) 298 Our wordless tearless numbness of distress. 1890 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 8 Feb. 300/2 The patient was quite speechless, or, at least, wordless. 1904 G. Watson Sunshine & Sentim. 188 I was unable to follow her, and stood dumfounded and wordless. 1948 Z. N. Hurston Seraph on Suwanee i. 10 He made two or three attempts to talk with the shy and almost wordless girl. 2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 21 June 27/1 ‘Salim’, a few pages about breaking down in the Sahara with a wordless Mauritanian truck driver.., is masterly. b. Unable to speak; lacking the power of speech; (also) lacking words for expression. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > vocal disorders > [adjective] > dumb speechlessa1000 dumbc1000 deaf and dumb?c1225 mutec1400 tongueless1447 voiceless1535 wordless1648 tongue-tied1707 deaf-dumb1822 deaf-mute1837 utterless1854 unspeakable1888 the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] > lacking words for expression unspeechful1853 wordless1881 1648 J. Quarles Fons Lachrymarum 52 The wordless tongues of thirsty children cleave To their unliquid mouths. a1770 C. Talbot Ess. Var. Subj. (1772) I. xxi. 169 Chill'd Fancy hears with awful Gloom opprest Thus by deep-felt, wordless Voice addrest. 1843 Illuminated Mag. 1 151 A stepless and a wordless child. 1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in Idylls of King 156 Lancelot marvell'd at the wordless man. 1881 E. F. Poynter Among the Hills I. 282 Her mind was too uncultivated, too wordless. 1901 S. Phillips Herod ii. 91 A spirit groping for the trick of speech, Mad for the ancient touches of the hand, Yet wordless, handless, helpless, near yet dumb, Close, yet unseen. 1977 P. Leach Baby & Child vi. 418 One child may stay wordless until she is two and a half and then produce three-word sentences. 2003 New Yorker 16 June 194/2 The wordless child she once was..was closer to reality than what her teacher had made of her through the imposition of ‘wordmindedness’. 3. a. Not accompanied by words. Of an utterance, vocal sound, etc.: not taking the form of words. Π 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 422 The winged quiars,..Their sounds want sence; their notes are word-lesse still. 1658 J. Quarles Hist. Most Vile Dimagoras i. 5 At the last, these cryes, these groans, encreas'd Into a voice distinct, and after ceas'd Their wordless tones. 1737 A. Hill Tears of Muses 24 Near Opera's fribling Fugues, what Muse can stay? Where wordless Warblings winnow Thought, away! 1843 Stud. Sensation & Event 183 With wordless yells, they rage around the cave Like maddened tigers. 1855 P. J. Bailey Mystic 137 No wordless murmurs of expectant joy. 1922 G. K. Chesterton Man who knew too Much 258 The man..cast it down with a wordless sound more shocking than a curse. 1958 J. Barth End of Road vii. 117 We spent a wordless, tumultuous night together, full of tumblings and flexings and shudders. 1997 J. Hynes Publish & Perish 328 The man was spiraling upward.., his wordless scream dopplering past. b. Of music, a play, etc.: performed without words. Π 1797 J. Penn Critic. Poet. Wks. 39 I will content myself with citing the verses of Juvenal, which relate to the effect produced by these wordless spectacles, upon the spectator. 1882 J. Hawthorne Fortune's Fool (1883) xxx The little wordless song which his..mother had sung. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 9 Jan. 3/2 The history of wordless plays on the modern London stage. 1919 P. G. Wodehouse Their Mutual Child i. iv. 45 She had played a wordless part in the comedy in which Percy Shanklyn had appeared as the English dude and was on terms of friendship with him. 1941 J. Homer Dawn Watch in China iv. 93 Six or eight or a dozen oarsmen,..singing in unison the minor wordless river chant of the sacred Yangtze. 2005 Guardian 29 July (Friday Review section) 8/3 Around the time rock was born, a whole genre arose out of wordless singing, called, with suitable onomatopeia, doowop. Derivatives ˈwordlessly adv. ΘΠ the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adverb] in silencea1382 without language?c1450 sub silentio1563 monkishly1595 wordlessly1840 pauciloquently1844 speechlessly1847 taciturnly1847 reticently1859 incommunicativelya1862 1840 B. E. Hill Pinch—of Snuff 98 She took a pinch, wordlessly bidding me to do the same. 1891 M. M. Dowie Girl in Karpathians xiii. 178 We were left..wordlessly grateful. 2005 Time Out 7 Dec. 147/2 (advt.) The play offers no answers, but its final scene, in which Peter wordlessly bed-bathes Rachel, is tender and strangely cathartic. ˈwordlessness n. ΘΠ the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [noun] > lacking words for expression wordlessness1834 1834 Amer. Ladies' Mag. May 204 The peculiarity of their attachment,..its wordlessness, and its mysterious ending, all had charms. 1921 Musical Times 62 12/1 An entirely lyric song passes almost into wordlessness; as we find in Grieg's familiar Solveig's Song, where at the most poignant moment the music actually becomes wordless. 2003 S. Alexie Ten Little Indians 52 She felt that her silence, her wordlessness, might be the only thing she could give him. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < adj.a1200
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