adjective
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having no wings or vestigial wings
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designating primitive insects of the subclass Apterygota, characterized by small size, lack of wings, and larvae resembling the adults: includes the springtails and bristletails
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wingless
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Behind the apostles, in a beehive of sociable activity, wingless angels busy themselves with rituals—tending to oil lamps, burning cypress branches, playing musical instruments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
In contrast, workers are wingless females with smaller body size and degenerated reproductive tracts, usually without a sperm storage organ.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2024
Just inside, Max Streicher’s “Quadriga” stages massive billowing horses that call to mind wingless Pegasi the way they seem to gallop through the air.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2024
The wingless insects usually spread through direct contact from the hair of one person to the hair of another.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2024
I unzip the bag and a wisp of smoke rises from the mouth of the wingless dragon.
From "Dragons in a Bag" by Zetta Elliott
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
