godless
Americanadjective
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having or acknowledging no god or deity; atheistic.
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wicked; evil; sinful.
adjective
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wicked or unprincipled
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lacking a god
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refusing to acknowledge God
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of godless
Explanation
Someone who doesn't believe in any god is godless. Your religious grandmother might refer to your atheist uncle as godless. While the adjective godless literally means just "not revering a god," it's most often used by religious people or groups to criticize those who don't show the proper respect to God or religion, or those who are unbelievers. When a group is described as a "godless society," it's usually an observation of a perceived lack of morality or law, coming from the idea that people who believe in God are better, more moral citizens.
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.
He tracks how deeply the transformative ideas of “biological evolution, a godless universe, and planetary extinction” shaped the poet’s imagination.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
All would be lost, however, without Mays’ quicksilver brilliance — the way he can shift from savage irony to vindictive rage to godless despair in the space of a line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
Speaking ahead of Easter, Dr Williams was asked on Politics Wales as to how he reflected on an increasingly godless society.
From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2022
Despite attempts to tie Lennon and "Imagine" to blood-lusting atheists like Stalin and Pol Pot, the overwhelming majority of godless people seek to live ethical lives.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2021
University College London, which was known as the godless university, where great men were thinking great thoughts—but were not being trained, as at Cambridge and Oxford, for the church.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
