adjective
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having no wings or vestigial wings
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designating primitive insects of the subclass Apterygota, characterized by small size, lack of wings, and larvae resembling the adults: includes the springtails and bristletails
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wingless
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.
In a new study, scientists at Northwestern University investigated how these small, wingless insects, which move across snowy surfaces to find mates and lay eggs, stay alive in freezing conditions.
From Science Daily • Mar. 26, 2026
Behind the apostles, in a beehive of sociable activity, wingless angels busy themselves with rituals—tending to oil lamps, burning cypress branches, playing musical instruments.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
The wingless insects usually spread through direct contact from the hair of one person to the hair of another.
From Salon • Aug. 25, 2024
The wingless insects hide in mattresses and bedding and feed on blood, typically biting at night.
From Reuters • Nov. 8, 2023
I don’t want to be a doll hung up on the Wall, I don’t want to be a wingless angel.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
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.
