countless
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- countlessly adverb
Etymology
Origin of countless
Explanation
Countless means more than you could possibly count. If you have countless reasons why you love living in New York, there are so many reasons that you can't list them all. Countless is a good adjective to use when you want to emphasize how endless, huge, or immeasurable something is. Your could say that smoke detectors save countless lives each year, or that your principal has tried countless times to ban soda at school, only to be outvoted by the student council over and over. The word dates from the 16th century, from the verb count, with its Old French root, conter, "add up."
Vocabulary lists containing countless
Much Ado: Synonyms for "Many"
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 6
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"Dogs at Work"
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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.
The 2019 screen fiasco, which found countless ways to humiliate a cast that included Taylor Swift and Judi Dench, gave kitsch a bad name.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
It’s a film that’s woven itself into the fabric of countless lives.
From Salon • May 1, 2026
Dame Sarah said the Pope's message "reminded us that despite our sufferings, people long for life in all its fullness and countless people are working each day for this vision of the common good".
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
Arbitration has also become a massive phenomenon, siphoning countless cases off from the courts into a shadowy, opaque system that nobody can ever truly fully observe.
From Slate • Apr. 27, 2026
By the time I retired in 1986, after thirty-three years at Langley, I had authored or coauthored twenty-six research reports and tutored countless students.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
