headless

American  

[hed-lis] / ˈhɛd lɪs /

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.

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ˈheadless British  

/ ˈhɛdlɪs /

adjective

1. without a head

2. without a leader

3. foolish or stupid

4. prosody another word for catalectic

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Other Word Forms

• headlessness noun

Etymology

Origin of headless

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

Example Sentences

Then the headless, gutted herring were shoveled into the ship’s hold and packed between layers of salt, to preserve them.

From Literature

Especially when there are so many shipwrecks, headless horsemen, gloomy talking birds, and other equally fascinating topics to write poems about?

From Literature

Later on, the contestants had to put their doubts and suspicions aside for the day's challenge - in a creepy room full of headless dummies, which needed their Celebrity Traitor heads reattached.

From BBC

“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

The centrepiece of the show is "Unmanned Drone" – a completely reconstructed sculpture of Stonewall Jackson by artist Kara Walker, who transformed the horse and its rider heading into battle into a headless, zombie-like creature.

From BBC