rudderless

[ ruhd-er-lis ]

/ ˈrʌd ər lɪs /

Save This Word!

adjective

(of a boat, ship, or aircraft) lacking a rudder, the device or structure used to change direction and steer: I love the story of Columba, a priest in sixth-century Ireland, who got into a rudderless boat and let God and providence take him where he was meant to be.

lacking purpose, leadership, moral principles, or anything else that might provide direction; aimless: The people are drifting and rudderless, without a vision to unify and motivate them and without a shared set of values.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of rudderless

rudder + -less

Words nearby rudderless

rudbeckia, rudd, rudder, rudderfish, rudderhead, rudderless, rudderpost, rudderstock, ruddevator, ruddle, ruddleman

How to use rudderless in a sentence

Perhaps we can just chalk that up to the continually rudderless leadership of McCarthy.
The GOP keeps reinforcing the real reason it opposes a Jan. 6 commission|Aaron Blake|May 20, 2021|Washington Post
After the pandemic hit, one ingredient in China’s remarkable recovery was its ability to turn the rudder of its enormous industrial engine to the needs of the moment.
Unmade in America|Tate Ryan-Mosley|August 14, 2020|MIT Technology Review
In a party without a frontrunner, and seemingly rudderless, Bush is the closest thing the GOP has to a consensus candidate.
Why We Can’t Quit Bush and Clinton|Eleanor Clift|March 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But they will leave the country rudderless, the victory will be hollow, and the problems will be left to fester.
Ryan Budget Plan Sounds Good But Lacks Substance|Zachary Karabell|August 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST

It could wind up being asked to form a coalition government—and probably will fail, leaving the country rudderless in the storm.
Obama: Pay Attention to Europe|Christopher Dickey|May 8, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Foer is the kind of adult for whom a pre-Huggies life was rudderless.
Fatherhood Gets Hip|Lizzie Skurnick|December 1, 2009|DAILY BEAST
It is hard to conceive a soul entirely cut loose from the old bones, and roving rudderless about eternity.
The Fiend's Delight|Dod Grile
A rudderless little bark, she had been set adrift in so inviting, so welcoming a sea twenty years ago!
The Heart of Rachael|Kathleen Norris
And yet we stand, and have stood for months, as a rudderless ship foundering in the trough of tremendous seas.
Harper's Pictorial Library of the World War, Volume XII|Various
Theories without fact leave man in a rudderless boat; he gets nowhere, he merely drifts.
Think|Col. Wm. C. Hunter
She glanced up at the blue sky, where snowy clouds drifted like rudderless ships at sea.
Blue Robin, the Girl Pioneer|Rena I. Halsey