adj
Meaning 1
Without any hands.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
handless
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
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/ˈhændləs/
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rhymes with -ændləs
adj
Meaning 2
Not handy; awkward.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Without a handle.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 4
without a hand or hands
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a handless war veteran
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: handed
adjective satellite
Meaning 5
lacking physical movement skills, especially with the hands- Mary H. Vorse
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a bumbling mechanic
- a bungling performance
- ham-handed governmental interference
- could scarcely empty a scuttle of ashes, so handless was the poor creature
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: bumbling, bungling, butterfingered, ham-fisted, ham-handed, heavy-handed, left-handed
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English handles, from Old English *handlēas, from Proto-Germanic *handulausaz (“handless”), equivalent to hand + -less. Cognate with West Frisian hânleas (“handless”), German handlos (“handless”), Icelandic handlauss (“handless”).
From handleless, by haplology, under the influence of etymology 1 above.
Across languages
Translations
13 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: безрък (bezrǎk) — without a hand
- Chinese Mandarin: 無手 /无手 (wúshǒu) — without a hand
- Czech: bezruký — without a hand
- Finnish: kädetön — without a hand
- German: handlos — without a hand
- German: armlos — without a hand
- Ancient Greek: ἄχειρος (ákheiros) — without a hand
- Polish: bezręki — without a hand
- Portuguese: maneta — without a hand
- Russian: безру́кий (bezrúkij) — without a hand
- Spanish: manco — without a hand
- Ottoman Turkish: چولاق (çolak) — without a hand
- Ottoman Turkish: قولاق (kolak) — without a hand