rootless

[ root-lis, root- ]
See synonyms for: rootlessrootlessness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. having no roots.

  2. having no basis of stability; unsteady: a rootless feeling resulting from economic and social change.

  1. having no place or position in society: a rootless wanderer.

Origin of rootless

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English roteles; root1, +-less

Other words from rootless

  • root·less·ness, noun

Words Nearby rootless

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use rootless in a sentence

  • And thus it is that when anything happens to disturb or break up their earthly home their rootless religiosity goes with it.

    Bunyan Characters | Alexander Whyte
  • Nitella flexis is almost a rootless plant, and will grow without any care.

  • Within Walden's lifetime, others, cut off from their own race, lonely and rootless in the midst of the new.

    Homo Inferior | Mari Wolf

British Dictionary definitions for rootless

rootless

/ (ˈruːtlɪs) /


adjective
  1. 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