Synonyms

shapeless

American

[sheyp-lis] / ˈʃeɪp lɪs /

adjective

having no definite or regular shape or form.

a shapeless mass of clay.
lacking beauty or elegance of form.

shapeless British

/ ˈʃeɪplɪs /

adjective

having no definite shape or form

a shapeless mass
a shapeless argument
lacking a symmetrical or aesthetically pleasing shape

a shapeless figure

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of shapeless

1250–1300; shape + -less; replacing Middle English scaples

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.

When “The Shapeless Unease” remains focused on its subject, it engages and grips.

From Washington Post • May 14, 2020

“The Shapeless Unease” considers science and spirituality but ultimately rests, as it were, on language: its limits, and its possibilities.

From New York Times • May 12, 2020

The book I am currently reading The Shapeless Unease by Samantha Harvey, her memoir, in essays and fragments, about sleeplessness.

From The Guardian • Mar. 6, 2020

Shapeless in itself, it can take MI multitudinous shapes.

From Time Magazine Archive

Obediently his two crewmen flattened out, going immediately Shapeless.

From Keep Your Shape by Sheckley, Robert

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023