headless
Americanadjective
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without a head.
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having the head cut off; beheaded.
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having no leader or chief; leaderless.
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foolish; stupid.
a headless argument.
adjective
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without a head
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without a leader
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foolish or stupid
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prosody another word for catalectic
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of headless
before 1000; Middle English he ( ve ) dles, Old English hēafodlēas. See head, -less
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.
“Everyone was running around like little headless chickens,” Alicia said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
It contained several digital distortions, including a headless agent.
From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026
“I’ve been doing this home so long, maybe I’m losing track,” he says, casting a critical eye at the headless horseman rearing above him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2025
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 ● May 17, 2025
But the most dangerous spirit, he told me, was the several-ton headless hog he saw roaming Lacks Town years ago with no tail.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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.
