flightless en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- flīt'lĭs
- (US) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *plew- Proto-Indo-European *plewk- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *pléwketi Proto-Germanic *fleuganą Proto-West Germanic *fleugan Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Germanic *-þiz Proto-West Germanic *-þi Proto-West Germanic *fluhti Old English flyht Middle English flight English flight 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 flightless From flight + -less.
Meanings
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(not-comparable, usually) Unable to fly. ▸ Describing kinds of birds that normally cannot fly, such as the penguin, ostrich, and emu.
Near-synonyms: apterous, wingless
America has its bald eagle and New Zealand has its kiwi, a flightless brown bird.
2010, Alexander Elder, Straying from the Flock: Travels in New Zealand:The indigenous fauna of Australia and New Zealand featured an especially interesting array of flightless birds.
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(not-comparable, uncommon) Unable to fly. ▸ Describing an individual bird that normally would be able to fly but in this case cannot, such as an injured sparrow.
The animal shelter has a flightless sparrow named Shiny, who seems to make up for his disability by being an avid runner.
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(humorous, not-comparable, uncommon) Unable to fly. ▸ Suddenly deprived of a scheduled (airline) flight by its cancellation.
Oh great, some wind is blowing in Chicago, so now I'm flightless in Seattle, because this airline can't cope!
Antonyms
Coordinates
Deriveds
flightless cormorant · flightlessness · semiflightless · New Guinea flightless rail · flightlessly
Relateds
unflightworthy · featherless · unflying · unflyable
Synonyms
nonvolant · wingless · nonflying · apterous
Translations (17)
is ófleygur (unable to fly) · pl nielotny (unable to fly) · nn flygeudyktig (unable to fly) · de flugunfähig (unable to fly) · nb flygeudyktig (unable to fly) · nl niet-vliegend (unable to fly) · el άπτερος (unable to fly) · sv flygoförmögen (unable to fly) · fa بیپرواز (unable to fly) · ru нелета́ющий (unable to fly) · lt neskraidantis (unable to fly) · da ikke flyvedygtig (unable to fly) · te ఎగురలేని (unable to fly) · cs nelétavý (unable to fly) · it incapace di volare (unable to fly) · hu röpképtelen (unable to fly) · fi lentokyvytön (unable to fly)