imageless en · ADJ
Etymology
From image + -less.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) Lacking an image.
Ever since Hadrian--otherwise a patriot king--built his imageless temples, in imitation of this barren and lifeless worship; ever since the weak Alexander and his superstitious mother filled the imperial palace with their statues of Christ, with preachers and teachers of his religion; ever since the Philips openly and without shame professed his faith; ever, I say, since these great examples have been before the world, has the ancient religion declined its head, and the new stalked proudly by.
1874, William Ware, Aurelian:Other dream-fears, or strong dream-impressions, may be almost imageless. There may be a great terror, for example, of a purely geometric figure—a figure from pure geometry, or an example of pure mathematics.
1922, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Sleep and Dreams”, in Fantasia of the Unconscious, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, →OCLC, page 253:In this diptych, a grid of 15 blue-and-black electric-chair images occupies the left panel, while the right panel is imageless, filled with the same shade of blue used in the left.
1989 June 2, Fred Camper, “Andy Warhol: A Long, Close Look”, in Chicago Reader:
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(not-comparable, obsolete) Unimaginable.
Blessings that are imageless to all mortal fancyings, these shall be thine for this.
1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities: