Dictionary

bloodless en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English blodles, from Old English blōdlēas (“bloodless”). Cognate with Dutch bloedeloos (“bloodless”), German blutlos (“bloodless”), Danish blodløs (“bloodless”), Swedish blodlös (“bloodless”), Icelandic blóðlaus (“bloodless”). By surface analysis, blood + -less.

Meanings

1. Lacking blood; ashen, anaemic.
   • The face was white and thoroughly bloodless with some kind of foundation cream; it stank of powder and a gardenia-like perfume. 1956, James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room, Penguin, published 2001, Part One, Chapter 2:
   • Thou dost not slumber: see, thy two sons’ heads, Thy warlike hand, thy mangled daughter here: Thy other banish’d son, with this dear sight Struck pale and bloodless; and thy brother, I, Even like a stony image, cold and numb. c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
   • My bloodleſſe bodie waxeth chill and colde, And with my blood my life ſlides through my wound, My ſoule begins to take her flight to hell, And ſummones all my ſences to depart: […] c. 1587–1588 (date written), [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 II, scene vii:
2. Taking place without loss of blood.
   • a bloodless conquest; a bloodless coup d'état; a bloodless revolution; a bloodless victory
   • Now and then a gaudy peacock would run from his shelter in the lauhala trees, but no wild boars came out, so we returned from our raid bloodless and spoilless. 1892, Rev. Herbert Henry Gowen, The Paradise of the Pacific, page 129:
3. (figuratively) Lacking emotion, passion or vivacity.
   • Those Philharmonic subscribers who considered Guest Conductor Igor Stravinsky too bloodless and ascetic […] last week found his successor, Georges Enesco, more to their taste. 1937 February 8, “No. 1 Rumanian”, in Time:
   • There is plenty of commentary, even among users of other platforms, about how Threads is bloodless (and owned by Mark Zuckerberg), Mastodon is inscrutable, and Bluesky is humorless. 2025 May 23, Charlie Warzel, “What Are People Still Doing on X?”, in The Atlantic:
   • Many of them are leaving us — the words. Gone into hiding […] Now they lurk, uncaged, behind other words, behind trending, brittle, bloodless little wokeisms […] 2024, Bruce Wagner, The Met Gala & Tales of Saints and Seekers:

Forms

Deriveds

bloodless surgery · bloodlessly · bloodlessness

Translations (53)

de blutarm (lacking blood) · el αναίμακτος (taking place without loss of blood) · pt incruento (taking place without loss of blood) · grc ἀναίμων (lacking blood) · el αναιμικός (lacking emotion or vivacity) · uk безкро́вний (taking place without loss of blood) · kmr bêxwîn (lacking blood) · gv gyn lhottey (taking place without loss of blood) · grc ἄναιμος (lacking blood) · is blóðlaus (lacking blood) · bn রক্তহীন (lacking blood) · nb ublodig (taking place without loss of blood) · be бяскро́ўны (taking place without loss of blood) · ga neamhfholach (lacking blood) · eo sangomanka (lacking blood) · ru безжи́зненный (lacking emotion or vivacity) · ga liathbhán (lacking blood) · el αναιμικός (lacking blood) · la incruentus (lacking blood) · pl bezkrwisty (lacking emotion or vivacity) · ka უსისხლო (taking place without loss of blood) · tr kansız (lacking blood) · uk безкро́вний (lacking blood) · ga gan foréigean (taking place without loss of blood) · be бяскро́ўны (lacking blood) · ga gan rian fola (lacking blood) · ja 無血 (taking place without loss of blood) · es exangüe (lacking blood) · es sin efusión de sangre (taking place without loss of blood) · ga bán san aghaidh (lacking blood) · ru бескро́вный (lacking blood) · pl bezkrwisty (lacking blood) · fi aneeminen (lacking blood) · pl bezkrwawy (taking place without loss of blood) · nn ublodig (taking place without loss of blood) · ru бескро́вный (taking place without loss of blood) · ka უსისხლო (lacking blood) · ga gan mharú (taking place without loss of blood) · es incruento (taking place without loss of blood) · es exánime (lacking emotion or vivacity) · bn রক্তপাতহীন (taking place without loss of blood) · fi veretön (taking place without loss of blood) · de bleich (lacking blood) · bg безкръвен (taking place without loss of blood) · bg безкръвен (lacking blood) · ky кансыз (lacking blood) · hy անարյուն (lacking blood) · de unblutig (taking place without loss of blood) · de blutleer (lacking emotion or vivacity) · la incruentus (taking place without loss of blood) · lt bekraujis (lacking blood) · it esanime (lacking blood) · la exsanguis (lacking blood)