formless

American  

[fawrm-lis] / ˈfɔrm lɪs /

adjective

1. lacking a definite or regular form or shape; shapeless.

---

formless British  

/ ˈfɔːmlɪs /

adjective

1. without a definite shape or form; amorphous

---

Other Word Forms

• formlessly
  adverb
• formlessness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of formless

First recorded in 1585–95; form + -less

Explanation

Something formless either has no definite shape, like fog or smoke, or lacks structure, like a formless movie that doesn't seem to have much of a plot. You can use this adjective to describe things that are physically vague and shapeless, from formless crowds of people surging forward at a rock concert or the formless, ghost-like shapes in your dark basement. It's also good for things like songs, poems, ideas, or concepts that are unstructured or incoherent and hard to make sense of.

Example Sentences

Formless red slime lands in Pennsylvania and engulfs people; teens try to warn scoffing adults.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 19, 2019

Formless, artless, it is narcissistic but not introspective, psycho but not analytic�a shotgun wedding of R.D.

From Time Magazine Archive

To the initiate, each name ultimately leads to the Nameless, the form to the Formless, the word to the Silence.

From Time Magazine Archive

Formless and Ferocious The individual fighting men, like soldiers in all wars, are relatively unconcerned with the big picture.

From Time Magazine Archive

Another, a troubled, memory came to me—of the Formless Thing that had haunted the shores of the Sea of Sleep.

From The House on the Borderland by Hodgson, William Hope