bloodless
Americanadjective
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without blood.
bloodless surgery.
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very pale.
a bloodless face.
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free from bloodshed; accomplished without bloodshed.
a bloodless victory; a bloodless coup.
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spiritless; without vigor, zest, or energy.
a dull, insipid, bloodless young man.
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without emotion or feeling; cold-hearted.
bloodless data.
adjective
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without blood
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conducted without violence (esp in the phrase bloodless revolution )
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anaemic-looking; pale
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lacking vitality; lifeless
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lacking in emotion; cold; unfeeling
Other Word Forms
- bloodlessly adverb
- bloodlessness noun
Etymology
Origin of bloodless
1175–1225; Middle English blodles, Old English blōdlēas. See blood, -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.
But it does promote order by redirecting the ambitious few into what Mr. Mansfield calls “the bloodless killing of commerce” while reducing the material deprivation that encourages discontent among the many poor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
Barre seized power in a bloodless coup in 1969.
From BBC • Jan. 8, 2026
Hawken describes the word “biodiversity” as “a bloodless term” and “carbon neutrality” as an absurd “biophysical impossibility.”
From Salon • Mar. 24, 2025
But to outsource the entirety of relationship-building to some bloodless avatar that decides to make all your choices for you won’t avail us in terms of loneliness and dating anxiety.
From Slate • May 17, 2024
Redemption had stood up behind Jam, staring at his uncle, his hands balled into bloodless fists.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
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.
