defenseless
Americanadjective
Explanation
Someone who's defenseless is vulnerable and unprotected. Babies need to be taken care of because they're completely defenseless. A brand new chess player is somewhat defenseless against an experienced player, and a kitten is defenseless without its mother's fierce protection. Con men sometimes target people they see as defenseless, like the very elderly. The word defenseless dates from the 16th century, combining defense, "action of guarding or protecting," from the Latin defendere, "protect," and -less, "without or lacking."
Vocabulary lists containing defenseless
Power Suffix: -less
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -less
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-less
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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.
“So, I was thoroughly disappointed; the guy was defenseless in the air. I know Steve was trying to block the shot, but the game’s a 25-point game. You don’t do that.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
"Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds," the pope said at the mass in St Peter's Basilica.
From Barron's • Dec. 25, 2025
International law states that once enemies have been rendered defenseless, they shouldn’t be subject to further attack.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 16, 2025
"This temporary state renders the shark defenseless, allowing the orcas to extract its nutrient-rich liver and likely consume other organs as well, before abandoning the rest of the carcass," explained Higuera.
From Science Daily • Nov. 3, 2025
Standing between the British and the nearly defenseless capital was an American force of about the same size.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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.
