wireless

American  

[wahyuhr-lis] / ˈwaɪər lɪs /

adjective

1. having no wire.

2. noting or pertaining to any of various devices that are operated with or actuated by electromagnetic waves.

3. Chiefly British. radio.

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noun

• wirelesses
  plural

1. wireless telegraphy or telephony.

2. a wireless telegraph or telephone, or the like.

3. any system or device, as a cell phone, for transmitting messages or signals by electromagnetic waves.

4. a wireless message.

5. Chiefly British. radio.

verb (used with or without object)

1. to telegraph or telephone by wireless.

wireless British  

/ ˈwaɪəlɪs /

adjective

1. communicating without connecting wires or other material contacts

   wireless networks

   wireless internet connection

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noun

1. old-fashioned another word for radio

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• wirelessness
  noun
• prewireless
  adjective
• wirelessly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wirelesses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of wireless

First recorded in 1890–95; wire + -less

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wireless wirelesses

In greenlighting that deal, the FCC waived a requirement that the owner of the wireless resources maintain ground infrastructure to ensure certain cellular service levels around the country.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

The new deal also gives wireless carrier Verizon Communications a minority stake in MobileX by converting a loan into equity, the people said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Unlike a visible security camera, a wireless network normally gives people no obvious indication that its radio signals could potentially be used to recognize who is nearby.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

Monique made the switch from bluetooth wireless to wired earphones a few months back and says she hasn't returned to the former since.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

It was hardly her fault that Aunt Hermione had run off with some toad who delivered fireside sermons on the wireless every week.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

We had one phone in the hall, wirelesses and typewriters; we wrote our essays by hand and we weren’t forever on call, stressed, agitated, panicking and with a squillion, brain-mashing choices to make.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 12, 2016

Correspondents filed endless wirelesses, but no event of real importance disturbed the word-painted ship upon its word-painted ocean.

From Time Magazine Archive

But in London last week, a considerable fraction of the population rose from warm beds and sat shivering beside wirelesses to hear the 7 a.m. news report of the Battle of Adelaide.

From Time Magazine Archive

"You still putting your faith in those wirelesses your uncle was going to have zigzagging round?"

From Flappers and Philosophers by F. Scott (Francis Scott) Fitzgerald