rayless

[ rey-lis ]
See synonyms for rayless on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. lacking rays or raylike parts.

  2. unlit, dark, or gloomy: a rayless cave.

Origin of rayless

1
First recorded in 1735–45; ray1 + -less

Other words from rayless

  • ray·less·ness, noun

Words Nearby rayless

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use rayless in a sentence

  • When the reddleman's figure could no longer be seen, Wildeve himself descended and plunged into the rayless hollow of the vale.

    Return of the Native | Thomas Hardy
  • So there they stood, seven sorrowful little figures engulfed in the rayless despair of childhood and the bitterness of poverty.

    Americans All | Various
  • The sky had cleared; and the moon, changed to blood-red hues, hung like a rayless sun midway in the nocturnal heavens.

    The Hill of Venus | Nathan Gallizier
  • Her face did not please the mother; it seemed haughty in its sternness and immobility, and her eyes were rayless.

    Mother | Maksim Gorky
  • Never before had all glint of hope been lost in rayless blackness.

    Under Handicap | Jackson Gregory

British Dictionary definitions for rayless

rayless

/ (ˈreɪlɪs) /


adjective
  1. dark; gloomy

  2. lacking rays: a rayless flower

Derived forms of rayless

  • raylessly, adverb
  • raylessness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012