rootless

[root-lis, roo t-]

See more synonyms for rootless on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having no roots.
having no basis of stability; unsteady: a rootless feeling resulting from economic and social change.
having no place or position in society; not in accord with the environment: the homeless, rootless wanderer.

Origin of rootless

First recorded in 1325–75, rootless is from the Middle English word rooteles. See root¹, -less

Related formsroot·less·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for rootless

shaky, unstable, wobbly, frail, unreliable, immature, vulnerable, rocky, nervous, insecure, weak, precarious, unsettled, jittery, rickety, unsteady, skeptical, unclear, uncertain, hesitant

Examples from the Web for rootless

Contemporary Examples of rootless

She is rootless and stateless, having little in the way of rights or protection from exploitation.
The Young Girls Escaping the ISIS War
Chandra Kellison
September 16, 2014
They are living a rootless existence in 6th of October City, the satellite settlement now home to thousands of civil-war refugees.
Desperate to Go to War, Syrians in Egypt Find an Ally to Help
Alastair Beach, Abdulhamid Mallas
May 3, 2013

Historical Examples of rootless

Without that rootless, worthless, devilish fancy, I might have been no worse than other people!
Salted With Fire
George MacDonald
Surface-work not being in vogue, nor rootless blossoms regarded.
Man of Uz, and Other Poems
Lydia Howard Sigourney
In "Ceugant" there is only the Unknowable, the rootless Root.
Reincarnation
Th. Pascal
In all cases the first upper incisors are large and rootless.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 2
Various
Such teeth are said to be rootless or to have persistent pulps.
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for rootless

rootless

adjective

having no roots, esp (of a person) having no ties with a particular place or community

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for rootless

adj.

late 14c., from root (n.) + -less. Related: Rootlessly; rootlessness.