English Vocabulary for ESL learners
ADJECTIVES ending in -LESS
The suffix 'less' added to an adjective.
The suffix 'less' added to an adjective means 'without' or 'insufficient',
for example: 'fearless' (without fear) or 'careless' (insufficient attention) .
The list below shows some examples of these adjectives.
ADJECTIVE | EXAMPLE OF USE |
ageless | "He's growing old but somehow he looks ageless." |
careless | “After the accident he was accused of careless driving.” |
cureless | "Unfortunately her illness is cureless." |
defenceless | "Many of the attacks were carried out on defenceless civilians." |
endless | “They had endless conversations on the subject.” |
flawless | “You’re lucky. You’ve got flawless skin.” |
harmless | “The dog barks a lot at people but it’s harmless." |
headless | “Investigators are running around like headless chickens." |
heartless | "The dictator is a cruel heartless man." |
heedless | "The boys walked along the edge of the cliff heedless of the danger." |
homeless | “The number of homeless people continues to increase.” |
hopeless | “The situation is not hopeless as it seems.” |
jobless | “Without state benefits many of the jobless would be destitute.” |
mindless | “The demonstration turned into a scene of mindless violence.” |
painless | “Don’t worry. I can assure you it will be painless.” |
powerless | “We were completely powerless against the rising flood water." |
priceless | “Many of the sculptures exhibited are priceless.” |
sleepless | "A new baby is usually the cause of many sleepless nights!" |
speechless | “Her amazing declaration left the audience speechless.” |
tasteless | “The food was disappointing – they found it tasteless.” |
thoughtless | “His thoughtless comments caused a lot of embarrassment.” |
toothless | “The baby greeted us with a big toothless smile.” |
topless | “Topless swimsuits are not allowed on this beach.” |
useless | “The bicycle was so badly damaged that it was useless". |
worthless | “He later discovered that the agreement was worthless.” |
Please note that British English spelling is used on this website.