aimless
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of aimless
Explanation
If you're aimless, you don't have a destination or a goal in mind. Aimless wandering through a forest might take you in circles, or worse yet, get you lost. The adjective aimless is good for describing things that have no particular purpose or plan. You might prefer traveling with a map or GPS, while your best friend likes to drive in an aimless way, turning down dirt roads or exiting the highway impulsively. When you call a person aimless, you probably mean that he doesn't appear to have any ambition: "My brother's an aimless drifter." Aimless comes from aim, "purpose" or "target."
Vocabulary lists containing aimless
Achievement First 6th Grade IA 1 Words
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"La Vida Robot" and "Reading, Writing and... Recreation"
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Bill Withers (1938–2020) Tribute List
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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.
In the Starkadders’ home, breakfast means congealed porridge, and cows are called Feckless, Aimless, Graceless and Pointless.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
In a prolific recording career that stretched three decades, Snider made albums for labels owned by Prine and by Jimmy Buffett and for his own company, Aimless Records.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 15, 2025
Aimless hours at the end of a hose appear practical and purposeful, while fresh air and the sound of trickling water and birdsong soothe a fractious spirit.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 9, 2024
Aimless and anxious 20-somethings in popular culture were nothing new, of course.
From New York Times • Nov. 21, 2018
Aimless searchlights, pale and puerile, move irregularly over the sky.
From 'Green Balls' The Adventures of a Night-Bomber by Bewsher, Paul
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
