flightless

American  

[flahyt-lis] / ˈflaɪt lɪs /

adjective

1. incapable of flying.

   flightless birds such as the moa, rhea, and dodo.

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flightless British  

/ ˈflaɪtlɪs /

adjective

1. (of certain birds and insects) unable to fly See also ratite

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Etymology

Origin of flightless

First recorded in 1870–75; flight ¹ + -less

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

Flightless birds like penguins and ostriches have evolved lifestyles that don't require flight.

From Science Daily • Feb. 12, 2024

Flightless birds usually lose some of the utility of their wings, Dr. Matsuoka said, a process called degeneration.

From New York Times • Apr. 29, 2022

Iron and Wine's "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" is a perhaps the album's sweetest, most enchanting track.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 16, 2011

Flightless now and shivering,around their Queen they cling;every bee a gift of heat;she will not freezewithin the winter cluster of the bees.

From The Guardian • Dec. 18, 2010

But unlike that acorn-obsessed, chipmunk-cheeked, paleo-rodent ham, the Flightless Four known as Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private are ready for their moment in the sun.

From Washington Post