fireless

[ fahyuhr-lis ]

adjective

1. lacking fire; without a fire.
2. lacking spirit or enthusiasm.

Word History and Origins

Origin of fireless¹

First recorded in 1350–1400, fireless is from the Middle English word fuyrles. See fire, -less

Example Sentences

Poverty looks grim to grown people; still more so to children: they have not much idea of industrious, working, respectable poverty; they think of the word only as connected with ragged clothes, scanty food, fireless grates, rude manners, and debasing vices: poverty for me was synonymous with degradation.

From Literature

I came into this room, and the sight of the empty chair and fireless hearth chilled me.

From Literature

It seemed cold in the fireless cave.

From Literature

They were designed for one job: to fly straight toward the lunar face, switch on their cameras in the final 14 minutes of their journey, when they were just 1,500 miles from the surface, and then capture as many pictures as they could before vaporizing themselves in a violent, fireless crash on the moon's airless surface.

From Time

The Commander is standing in front of the fireless fireplace, back to it, one elbow on the carved wooden overmantel, other hand in his pocket.

From Literature