affectless

[af-ekt-lis]

adjective

1. lacking feeling or emotion; indifferent to the suffering of others.

   an affectless, futuristic drama in which the human characters are virtually robots.

affectless

/ əˈfɛktlɪs /

adjective

1. 1. showing no emotion or concern for others

   2. not giving rise to any emotion or feeling

      an affectless novel

Other Word Forms

• affectlessly adverb
• affectlessness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of affectless¹

First recorded in 1965–70; affect ¹ + -less

Word History and Origins

Origin of affectless¹

C20: from _affect ¹ (sense 4) + _-less

Example Sentences

Ridley’s performance is affectless and deadpan, until it isn’t.

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For most of her life, Jane Birkin, who died Sunday at 76, acted as a bridge — an elegant one, with an affectless grace that never betrayed the strains of load bearing.

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Astrud Gilberto sings “The Girl from Ipanema” in a light, affectless style that influenced Sade and Suzanne Vega among others, as if she had already moved on to other matters.

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Astrud Gilberto sings “The Girl From Ipanema” in a light, affectless style — as if she had already moved on to other matters — that decades later influenced singers such as Sade and Suzanne Vega among others.

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But even the lighter works can sting a little: In “Trial Witch,” an ostensibly playful story about a housewife who’s granted magical powers of transformation — she turns cats into dogs, and shrinks the riders of a crowded train car to two inches tall to give herself more room — the protagonist mentions her husband hitting her in such a casual, affectless manner that it colors the entire narrative.

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