Dictionary

driverless en · ADJ

Etymology

Etymology tree English driver Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der. Proto-Germanic *leusaną Proto-Germanic *lausaz Proto-Germanic *-lausaz Proto-West Germanic *-laus Old English -lēas Middle English -les English -less English driverless From driver + -less.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Without a driver (of a vehicle).
   • Will Underground trains be completely driverless? The new signalling being installed as part of the Upgrade will allow this, and the development, allowing a faster throughput of trains, might arise from, or be stopped by, a battle with the unions. Mike Brown, Managing Director of London Underground, envisages driverless trains within twenty years. 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 277:
   • A man who blocked and shouted at a driverless Waymo car later brutally beat a bystander who told him to let it go, California police reported. 2024 July 17, Don Sweeney, “Man brutally beats bystander after standoff with driverless car, California cops say”, in The Sacramento Bee, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2025:
   • a driverless vehicle
   • One of the latest [conditions], from last summer, was that Transport for London should look again at driverless trains. I examined their prospects in RAIL 933, and it's fair to say that their introduction is technically difficult and very expensive. If introducing driverless Tube trains were easy, then I'm quite sure that Prime Minister Boris Johnson would have brought them into service during his two terms as London mayor. 2021 December 1, Philip Haigh, “TfL's deepening financial crisis puts Tube services at risk”, in RAIL, number 945, page 59:
   • Toyota Motor Corp. will begin a self-driving transportation service in Odaiba, Tokyo, this summer using the technology of Level 4 autonomous driving — automated driving under certain conditions — with the aim of starting a driverless robotaxi business in the future, sources said. 2024 February 11, “Toyota to Launch Japan’s First Fully Automated Driving Service on Public Roads Starting in Odaiba, Tokyo, This Summer”, in The Japan News:
   • The regulations apply to self-driving cars, which have a human behind the wheel. These differ from the driverless cars that Elon Musk’s Tesla and other companies are also working on, which are not allowed on UK roads. , Joe Pinkstone, 9 2025 January 14, “Why using your phone behind the wheel could become legal in self-driving cars”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
2. (not-comparable) Without a driver (software to control hardware).
   • a driverless printer

Deriveds

driverlessness

Translations (12)

sv förarlös (without a driver) · cy diyrrwr (without a driver) · hu vezető nélküli (without a driver) · da selvkørende (without a driver) · hu önállóan közlekedő (without a driver) · de fahrerlos (without a driver) · cy heb yrwyr (without a driver) · hu önjáró (without a driver) · nb førerløs (without a driver) · cy heb yrrwr (without a driver) · hu önvezető (without a driver) · da førerløs (without a driver)