objectless

[ ob-jikt-lis, -jekt- ]

adjective

1. not directed toward any goal; purposeless; aimless.
2. having no object:

   an objectless preposition.

Other Words From

• object·less·ly adverb
• object·less·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of objectless¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; object + -less

Example Sentences

Yet a chance traveller might pass by; and I wish no eye to see me now: strangers would wonder what I am doing, lingering here at the sign-post, evidently objectless and lost.

From Literature

It was the same vehicle whence, a year ago, I had alighted one summer evening on this very spot—how desolate, and hopeless, and objectless!

From Literature

She said of “Hyperion”: “It is desultory, objectless, a thing of shreds and patches like the Author’s mind.”

From New York Times

Sonja’s is an objectless yearning, deeper than nostalgia.

From New York Times

In the early pages of her book, Witt writes of turning 30, and of conceiving of her singleness as an interim state; she describes a condition of objectless longing, a special form of loneliness that can only be generated by the technologies of connection.

From Slate

Related Words

• accidental
• aimless
• arbitrary
• incidental
• indiscriminate
• irregular
• odd
• unplanned