adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of joyless
First recorded in 1300–50, joyless is from the Middle English word joyles. See joy, -less
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.
They are the Joyless Olympics, made to be endured and survived instead of enjoyed and celebrated.
From Washington Post • Jul. 22, 2021
Joyless though most of them are, they have a little of the power and glory of the first and greatest Gothic cathedral windows.
From Time Magazine Archive
Joyless was the face of Aubrey Williams when he emerged.
From Time Magazine Archive
Joyless and hopeless as he might be, I felt instinctively that he would play out his drama alone.
From California Sketches, Second Series by Fitzgerald, O. P.
Now the youth must take departure, And must travel from these dwellings, Joyless leave behind these damsels, Dance no longer with the fair ones.
From Kalevala, The Land of the Heroes, Volume Two by Lönnrot, Elias
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.
