formless
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of formless
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Millions of essences, Fairy-like presences Formless as yet; Light-riven spangles, Crystalline tangles Floating unset.
From Lundy's Lane and Other Poems by Scott, Duncan Campbell
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.
