flightless
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of flightless
Explanation
Anything that's unable to propel itself through the air is flightless. You have at least one thing in common with a penguin: you're both flightless animals! The adjective flightless almost always describes birds that lost the ability to fly as they evolved, a group of about 60 species. When you imagine a flightless bird, you may picture the big, ungainly ones like emus and ostriches, but the tiny Inaccessible Island rail is also flightless. Wild turkeys can fly, but some turkeys, bred to be eaten on Thanksgiving, have bodies that are too wide and heavy for their wings to support them, and they've become flightless.
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 outside scientists suggest it’s a stretch to see that as a major step toward resurrecting the moa, a giant flightless bird that disappeared from its New Zealand habitat in the 1400s.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
While today's kākāpō is known for being heavy and flightless, this earlier species may have had the ability to fly.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 26, 2026
Ski Dubai, an indoor ski resort in the Mall of the Emirates, offers an “ultimate penguin experience” where guests can feed its resident flightless birds, despite summertime temperatures outside that sometimes surpass 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
For a people nicknamed after a flightless bird, taking off overseas has somewhat ironically become a rite of passage for many New Zealanders.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026
It also formerly had a 400-pound ostrichlike flightless bird, plus some impressively big reptiles, including a one-ton lizard, a giant python, and land-dwelling crocodiles.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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