songless

[ sawng-lis, song- ]

/ ˈsɔŋ lɪs, ˈsɒŋ- /

Save This Word!

devoid of song; lacking the power of a song, as a bird.

QUIZZES

In effect, this quiz will prove whether or not you have the skills to know the difference between “affect” and “effect.”

Question 1 of 7

The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.

First recorded in 1795–1805; song + -less

song·less·ly, adverbsong·less·ness, noun

They are a songless tribe, although their quick, reiterated call as they take to flight has given them the name of chatterers.
Little Rivers|Henry van Dyke
The males, who sing, have more white on the wings and tail than the females, who are songless.
Citizen Bird|Mabel Osgood Wright and Elliott Coues
While the Flycatchers are therefore technically classed as songless birds, it does not follow that they have no songs.
Color Key to North American Birds|Frank M. Chapman
The poet wonders what "songless tongueless ghost of sin crept through the curtains of the night."
Oscar Wilde|Leonard Cresswell Ingleby

That, then, is another of the supposed songless birds added to the list of singers.
Upon The Tree-Tops|Olive Thorne Miller