Wordless

Wordless

Adjective · /ˈwɜːdləs/ · without words; unable to speak; not expressed in words

Definition

Wordless describes something — or someone — that lacks words entirely. A wordless cry is pure sound without language. A wordless stare communicates without speech. A wordless film tells its story through image and music alone. The word captures the state of silence, speechlessness, or deliberate absence of language — and in doing so, it often points to something felt too deeply or too suddenly for words to form.

Etymology

From word (Old English word: spoken utterance) and the suffix -less (Old English -leas: free from, without, lacking). Wordless therefore literally means without words or lacking words. The -less suffix has been productive in English since Old English, forming adjectives that name absence: harmless, careless, thoughtless. Wordless entered literary use in the 16th century and retains the same meaning today.