1 bootless | Definition of bootless
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bootless

adjective
boot·​less | \ ˈbüt-ləs How to pronounce bootless (audio) \

Definition of bootless

: useless, unprofitable a bootless attempt
Other Words from bootless Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about bootless

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Other Words from bootless

bootlessly adverb
bootlessness noun

Did You Know?

This sense of "bootless" has nothing to do with footwear. The "boot" in this case is an obsolete noun that meant "use" or "avail." That "boot" descended from Old English "bōt" and is ultimately related to our modern word better, whose remote Germanic ancestor meant literally "of more use." Of course, English does also see the occasional use of "bootless" to mean simply "lacking boots," as Anne Brontë used the word in Agnes Grey (1847): "And what would their parents think of me, if they saw or heard the children rioting, hatless, bonnetless, gloveless, and bootless, in the deep soft snow?"

Examples of bootless in a Sentence

a bootless effort to get tickets to the sold-out game

First Known Use of bootless

1559, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for bootless

boot entry 1

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More from Merriam-Webster on bootless

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with bootless

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for bootless

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