sapless

[ sap-lis ]

adjective

1. without sap; withered; dry:

   sapless plants.

2. lacking vitality or spirit; insipid.

Other Words From

• sapless·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sapless¹

First recorded in 1585–95; sap ¹ + -less

Example Sentences

Whenever I talked, my voice came out sapless.

From Literature

Clark, who called Congress “the sapless branch,” belonged to the growing and restive corps of liberal Democrats who found the Senate less the genteel club that White described than a mildewed establishment.

From The New Yorker

He appears a sapless, withered, wasted old creature.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet, by the zeal of priests and the daring enterprise of soldiers and explorers, Canada, though sapless and infirm, spread forts and missions through all the western wilderness.

From Project Gutenberg

Uprooted and sapless trees lay in various directions, around which parasites wound in luxuriant beauty, and hid the whitened wood in wreaths of green.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ailing
• decrepit
• flabby
• fragile
• frail
• incompetent
• inefficient
• infirm
• lame
• paltry
• puny
• sickly
• tame
• weak
• weakened