bloodless

American  

[bluhd-lis] / ˈblʌd lɪs /

adjective

1. without blood.

   bloodless surgery.

2. very pale.

   a bloodless face.

3. free from bloodshed; accomplished without bloodshed.

   a bloodless victory; a bloodless coup.

4. spiritless; without vigor, zest, or energy.

   a dull, insipid, bloodless young man.

5. without emotion or feeling; cold-hearted.

   bloodless data.

---

bloodless British  

/ ˈblʌdlɪs /

adjective

1. without blood

2. conducted without violence (esp in the phrase bloodless revolution )

3. anaemic-looking; pale

4. lacking vitality; lifeless

5. lacking in emotion; cold; unfeeling

---

Other Word Forms

• bloodlessly adverb
• bloodlessness noun

Etymology

Origin of bloodless

1175–1225; Middle English blodles, Old English blōdlēas. See blood, -less

Example Sentences

But it does promote order by redirecting the ambitious few into what Mr. Mansfield calls “the bloodless killing of commerce” while reducing the material deprivation that encourages discontent among the many poor.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

Barre seized power in a bloodless coup in 1969.

From BBC • Jan. 8, 2026

For him it was a fine art, as it was for the Romans and the Greeks, not the bloodless work of engineers and applied math.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025

Between that and bloodless network procedurals, death transforms from a tragedy and a sin into a mystery or a puzzle.

From Salon • Oct. 4, 2024

I saw him before he died: his body was all swollen, very much like mine, with bloodless skin that looked like white rubber.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung

Related Words

• unemotional