heir
noun
a person who inherits or has a right of inheritance in the property of another following the latter's death.
heirless
-
a word derived from
heir.
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.
The stateless person and the heirless book belong to the same historical breach, though their losses remain incommensurable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
In the past decade or so, both Kusaba and Kojima have seen at least one factory quietly close every year as ageing owners die, fall ill or shut down their heirless businesses.
From Reuters ● Aug. 21, 2022
They urged the heirless Snyder to decide what pieces should go where upon his death.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 14, 2015
When he died, he left his queens devastated and his kingdom heirless.
From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2013
Hitherto life-owners of land, holding as subtenants, had possessed large powers of alienating it, to the detriment of their superior lords, who would otherwise have recovered it, when their vassals died heirless, as an “escheat.”
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 5 English History by Various
