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massless

American  
[mas-lis] / ˈmæs lɪs /

adjective

Physics.
  1. pertaining to an elementary particle having zero rest mass, as a photon.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of massless

First recorded in 1875–80; mass + -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.

See Examples For:

Such events are capable of generating neutrinos -- tiny, almost massless particles that constantly pass through space and Earth.

From Science Daily Nov. 26, 2025

A few have also pursued the axion, a nearly massless particle originally proposed to solve a different problem with the theory of the strong nuclear force.

From Science Magazine Nov. 20, 2024

It’s an esoteric search with very real implications—if just one parameter of the Higgs were positive instead of negative, for instance, atoms would have never formed because massless electrons would never stay in their orbit.

From Scientific American Aug. 28, 2023

Posting publicly on Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram is a lot like using a megaphone to scream to a large, massless, faceless crowd.

From Slate Nov. 30, 2022

The electromagnetic attraction is pictured as being caused by the exchange of large numbers of virtual massless particles of spin 1, called photons.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

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