Standard Lemma guide

clueless

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈkluː.ləs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • homophone: clewless
  • rhymes with -uːləs
  • CMU ARPABET: K L UW1 L AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Without any clues or hints.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: literally

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Lacking knowledge or understanding; uninformed; oblivious.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

totally uninformed about what is going on; not having even a clue from which to infer what is occurring

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English clue Proto-Indo-European *lewh1- Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der. Proto-Germanic *leusaną Proto-Germanic *lausaz Proto-Germanic *-lausaz Proto-West Germanic *-laus Old English -lēas Middle English -les English -less English clueless From clue + -less.

Across languages

Translations

38 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: sense pista — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Chinese Cantonese: 無知 /无知 (mou4 zi1) — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Chinese: 无知 (bû-ti) — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Chinese Mandarin: 无知 (wúzhī) — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Czech: bezradný — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Dutch: onnozel — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Finnish: tietämätön — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • French: ignorant — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • German: ahnungslos — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • German: planlos — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • German: unbedarft — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Hebrew: אוֹבֵד עֵצוֹת (ovéd 'etzót) — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Hindi: अनजान (anjān) — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Hindi: अनभिज्ञ (anbhijña) — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Hungarian: tudatlan — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Irish: aineolach — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Italian: senza idea — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Polish: zielony — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Portuguese: sem ideia — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Russian: неве́жественный (nevéžestvennyj) — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Spanish: en la inopia — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Spanish: pez — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Spanish: despistado — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Spanish: negado — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Spanish: no tener ni idea — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Spanish: despalomado — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Spanish: en Babia — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Spanish: en nada — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Spanish: estar en las nubes — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Spanish: vivir en las nubes — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Spanish: andar por las nubes — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Swedish: aningslös — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Turkish: cahil — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Turkish: bilgisiz — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Vietnamese: không đầu mối — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Vietnamese: không hiểu đời — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Vietnamese: không manh mối — lacking knowledge or understanding
  • Welsh: di-glem — lacking knowledge or understanding
Real reading context

clueless in complete knowledge articles