nameless

[ neym-lis ]

adjective

1. having no name.
2. left unnamed:

   a certain person who shall be nameless.

3. anonymous:

   a nameless source of information.

4. incapable of being specified or described:

   a nameless charm.

5. too shocking or vile to be specified:

   a nameless crime.

6. having no legitimate paternal name, as a child born out of wedlock.
7. unknown to fame; obscure:

   a nameless poet; nameless defenders of the country.

nameless

/ ˈneɪmlɪs /

adjective

1. without a name; anonymous
2. incapable of being named; indescribable

   a nameless horror seized him

3. too unpleasant or disturbing to be mentioned

   nameless atrocities

4. having no legal name; illegitimate

   a nameless child

Derived Forms

• ˈnamelessness, noun
• ˈnamelessly, adverb

Other Words From

• nameless·ly adverb
• nameless·ness noun
• quasi-nameless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of nameless¹

Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; name, -less

Example Sentences

In horror movies there are always nameless victims, sacrificed for a scare or two.

From Los Angeles Times

And to the local citizens who blocked the migrant workers’ children from going to school, the children were nameless.

From Salon

Babb thought this title embodied the fact that to the big-business corporate farmers in California, the migrant workers who toiled for pennies a day were nameless.

From Salon

And to the hospitals that would not admit migrant women who were suffering difficult births and instead sent these women back to the dirt floors of their tents to deliver their babies on newspapers, these mothers and infants were nameless.

From Salon

So we had started researching Harris. . . and the hints we were getting from people inside the Biden group, who shall remain nameless, were, “If he goes, it's her. It's obviously her.”

From Salon

Related Words

• unheard-of
• unnamed