faceless en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Latin faciō Proto-Italic *-jēs Latin -iēs Latin faciēs Late Latin facia Old French facebor. Middle English face English face 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 faceless From face + -less.
Meanings
-
(literally) Having no face.
These vague, faceless spectres from my ramblesome past have as much right as anyone else to be ranked among the salvors of the Navy's songs.
2015, Cyril Tawney, Grey Funnel Lines:
-
(idiomatic) Having or revealing no individual identity or character; anonymous.
A faceless mob attacked the Capitol building.
With assembly line consistency, Martin receives countless rejections from faceless editors—a triggering reminder for any literary hopeful navigating the modern culture industry.
2020 October 13, Beatrice Loayza, “Jack London gets an Italian makeover in the tragic and romantic Martin Eden”, in AV Club:
-
(idiomatic) Having or revealing no individuality, personality or distinctive characteristics.
I started working for a faceless corporation.
The highest official in Oran remains anonymous, referred to merely as "the Prefect." Use of the majusculed generic title instead of a proper name is less suggestive of a faceless tyrant, a Maghreb Big Brother, than of the detached, ineffectual bureaucrat he appears to be at every meeting.
1993, Steven G. Kellman, The Plague: Fiction and Resistance, New York, N.Y.: Twayne Publishers, →ISBN, page 77:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more faceless | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most faceless | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
facelessly · faceless man · faceless bureaucrat · facelessness
Translations (13)
izh liitsatoin (having no face) · it anonimo (having no face) · lt beveidis (having no face) · cmn 無臉的 /无脸的 (having no face) · et anonüümne (having no face) · pl bezlicy (lacking individuality) · ru безли́кий (having no face) · hy անդեմ (having no face) · ja 顔のない (having no face) · cmn 無面的 /无面的 (having no face) · is andlitslaus (having no face) · fi kasvoton (having no face) · de gesichtslos (having no face)