sunless en · ADJ
Pronunciation
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥der. Proto-Germanic *sunnô Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ Proto-West Germanic *sunnā Old English sunne Middle English sonne English sun 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 sunless From sun + -less.
Meanings
-
Without the sun or sunshine; shaded; shadowed.
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree: / Where Alph, the sacred river, ran / Through caverns measureless to man / Down to a sunless sea.
1797, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Kubla Khan: Or A Vision in a Dream”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 55:
-
(figuratively) Dreary, cheerless.
When I first saw her, her countenance was sunless, her complexion colourless; she looked like one who had no source of enjoyment, no store of bliss anywhere in the world.
1857, Charlotte Brontë, chapter 18, in The Professor:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more sunless | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most sunless | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Synonyms
unhappy · desolate · morose · uncheery · disconsolate · sunless · gloomsome · gloomy · lugubrious · gayless · sullen · miserable · forlorn · somber · no joke · drear · grim · wintry · mirthless · woeful · uncheerful · dire · doleful · dolesome · solemn · gloomy · dreich · bleak · drearisome · lack-laughter · saturnine · bleak · depressing · sombre · melancholy · joyless · spiritless · cheerless · dark · comfortless · dismal · gray · dreary · unmerry
Translations (8)
grc ἀνήλιος (without the sun or sunshine) · pl bezsłoneczny (without the sun or sunshine) · sv sollös (without the sun or sunshine) · bg мрачен (without the sun or sunshine) · pt sombrio (without the sun or sunshine) · cu беслъньнъ (without the sun or sunshine) · el ανήλιαγος (without the sun or sunshine) · bg усоен (without the sun or sunshine)