topless

[ top-lis ]

/ ˈtɒp lɪs /

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adjective

lacking a top: a topless bathing suit.

nude above the waist or hips: topless dancers.

featuring entertainers, waitresses, etc., who are nude above the waist or hips: a topless bar.

extremely high: a topless mountain.

Obsolete. without a peer.

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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.

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Origin of topless

First recorded in 1580–90; top¹ + -less

OTHER WORDS FROM topless

top·less·ness, noun

Words nearby topless

to pieces, topkhana, top kick, top kill, topknot, topless, top-level, top-level domain, topline, top loader, toplofty

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use topless in a sentence

She became an immediate success on the Theatre des Champs-Elysees stage, where she appeared topless and wearing a famed banana belt.
Josephine Baker To Be Inducted In French Pantheon|Malaika Jabali|November 29, 2021|Essence.com
It features a topless design, so you won’t have to fumble with a clam-shelled charging case.
Snag big discounts on the AirPods Pro & AirPod accessories with this sale|Stack Commerce|October 13, 2021|Popular-Science
At the Ford Bronco launch in Texas in June, Hagerty brought another vintage topless Bronco borrowed from a local owner.
4 rental car services with solid prices and options|Purbita Saha|August 11, 2021|Popular-Science
Even so, she was arrested several times for violating laws against nudity and topless dancing.
Tempest Storm, exotic dancer called ‘The Last Queen of Burlesque,’ dies at 93|Matt Schudel|April 22, 2021|Washington Post

He would show off images of naked or topless women he claimed to have met through his friend, these people said.
How the Justice Department came to investigate Rep. Matt Gaetz|Matt Zapotosky, Michael Scherer|April 15, 2021|Washington Post
I found, shock horror, old ladies with orange hair sunbathing topless.
No Movie Stars, No Red Carpet, But Off-Season Cannes Is Still Magic|Liza Foreman|September 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A woman in Louisiana can get three years in jail for going topless.
Women, It's Time to Reclaim Our Breasts|Emily Shire|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After Kate was photographed topless in France, the appeal of foreign holidays has faded for the young royal couple.
A Royal Staycation for William and Kate|Tom Sykes|August 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Richardson disguised model consent forms as “sign-in” papers for a topless shoot.
How Terry Richardson Paid His Way Out of Trouble|The Daily Beast|June 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In several photos, the subjects are topless, but they are all males.
What’s More Obscene Than Rihanna’s Boobs? Instagram’s Kids With Guns|Michael Daly|May 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The corporal said that this monster was Helen gazing out to sea from the topless towers of Ilium.
Castellinaria|Henry Festing Jones
As I gained the top in climbing to investigate, an eagle swooped angrily at me from a topless trunk.
The Rocky Mountain Wonderland|Enos A. Mills
Where they had stood, fantastic shapes loomed out of the mist and topless towers rose up spectral to baffle memory.
Berry And Co.|Dornford Yates
Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, And burnt the topless towers of Ilium!
Helen of Troy|Andrew Lang
She was topless, heavy breasts marked red with the outline of her bra straps and wires.
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town|Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for topless

topless

/ (ˈtɒplɪs) /

adjective

having no top

denoting a costume which has no covering for the breasts
wearing such a costume

archaic immeasurably high

Derived forms of topless

toplessness, noun

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