topless

American  

[top-lis] / ˈtɒp lɪs /

adjective

1. lacking a top: tops.

   a topless bathing suit.

2. nude above the waist or hips.

   topless dancers.

3. featuring entertainers, waitresses, etc., who are nude above the waist or hips.

   a topless bar.

4. extremely high.

   a topless mountain.

5. Obsolete. without a peer.

---

topless British  

/ ˈtɒplɪs /

adjective

1. having no top

2. 1. denoting a costume which has no covering for the breasts

   2. wearing such a costume

3. archaic immeasurably high

---

Other Word Forms

• toplessness noun

Etymology

Origin of topless

First recorded in 1580–90; top ¹ + -less

Example Sentences

Activists in Catalonia are celebrating after the government of the Spanish region informed its town and city halls that they must allow women to go topless in public swimming pools.

From BBC • Jun. 27, 2023

Finally, we watch as, seemingly topless, Darling lays back in bed practicing skin-to-skin contact with her just-born son.

From Washington Post • Oct. 4, 2022

The husband-and-wife duo took to Instagram to share their Fourth of July activities, which included taking an oceanside ride in a topless truck with the reality star’s youngest kids.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 5, 2022

But it was Mr. Crumpton’s shirtless display in Beijing that won love from the media, with headlines such as: “‘OMG’: New topless Winter Olympics figure takes world by storm.”

From New York Times • Feb. 10, 2022

With the educations Tansy made me and Lloyd get, we went out into the world – back east to the great boom of the big city, the topless towers of Indianapolis.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck