headless

[hed-lis]

adjective

1. without a head.

2. having the head cut off; beheaded.

3. having no leader or chief; leaderless.

4. foolish; stupid.

   a headless argument.

ˈheadless

/ ˈhɛdlɪs /

adjective

1. without a head

2. without a leader

3. foolish or stupid

4. prosody another word for catalectic

Other Word Forms

• headlessness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of headless¹

before 1000; Middle English he ( ve ) dles, Old English hēafodlēas. See head, -less

Example Sentences

Fitful at the back, wasteful in possession, headless chickens in too many areas.

From BBC

They’re most comfortable behaving like headless chickens running around looking for someone to blame.

From Los Angeles Times

As Ambrose Pierce wrote, “Patriotism is as fierce as a fever, pitiless and the grave, blind as a stone and irrational as a headless man.”

From Salon

"I really love living here and I don't want to leave, because then I will just be running around like a headless chicken, looking for somewhere affordable," she says.

From BBC

Most incongruously of all, outside a makeshift plastic doorway on a corner of the ground floor, next to piles of rubble and rubbish, stands a headless mannequin, wearing a wedding gown.

From BBC