lifeless

• liveless (obsolete)

From Middle English lyfles, lifles, from Old English līflēas (“lifeless”), equivalent to life +‎ -less. Cognate with West Frisian libbensleas (“lifeless”), Dutch levenloos (“lifeless”), German leblos (“lifeless”), Danish livløs (“lifeless”), Swedish livlös (“lifeless”), Icelandic líflaus (“lifeless”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪfləs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: life‧less

lifeless (comparative more lifeless, superlative most lifeless)

1. inanimate; having no life
2. dead; having lost life
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:

     a farther paſſion feeds my thoughts,
     With ceaſeleſſe and diſconſolate conceits,
     Which dies my lookes so liueleſſe as they are,
     And might, if my extreames had ful euents,
     Make me the gaſtly counterfeit of death.

3. uninhabited, or incapable of supporting life
4. dull or lacking vitality
   • 2018 December 1, Tom Rostance, “Southampton 2 - 2 Manchester United”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     In a largely lifeless second half their only shot on target was a tame overhead effort from Paul Pogba, and Mourinho's already stretched squad saw Luke Shaw and Lukaku limp off late on, while Ashley Young picked up a fifth booking of the season which rules him out of Wednesday's league game at home to Arsenal.

• lifelessly
• lifelessness

• fileless, self-lies