1 nameless | Definition of nameless

nameless

adjective
name·​less | \ ˈnām-ləs How to pronounce nameless (audio) \

Definition of nameless

2 : not known by name : anonymous
3 : having no legal right to a name : illegitimate
4 : not having been given a name : unnamed
5 : not marked with a name a nameless grave
6a : incapable of precise description : indefinable
b : too repulsive or distressing to describe

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Other Words from nameless

namelessly adverb
namelessness noun

Examples of nameless in a Sentence

She left the hotel with a nameless man in a black jacket. The source for my story prefers to remain nameless. A top government official, who shall remain nameless, has expressed concern about the decision. The men were buried there in nameless graves.
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Recent Examples on the Web

Imran Karim said that some labs do the work of approximating various products and then actively try to sell those nameless liquids, gels, and creams to existing brands. Joe Pinsker, The Atlantic, "The Mysterious Economics of Face Wash," 6 Sep. 2019 This nameless kernel of identity can be submerged or damaged but never completely lost, even in death. Deborah Treisman, The New Yorker, "Louise Erdrich on the Power of Stones," 2 Sep. 2019 If any of the nameless victims had been rich or famous themselves and able to hire an Alan Dershowitz or a Jay Lefkowitz, the result surely would have been different. Rich Lowry, National Review, "Mistakes Were Made — Always in Jeffrey Epstein’s Favor," 13 Aug. 2019 Kigali, 5, gave birth to the nameless cubs at the Leipzig Zoo on Friday, only to wind up eating them whole. Fox News, "Lioness devours pair of cubs days after giving birth in German zoo," 8 Aug. 2019 Soon, DJs morphed from relatively nameless players into major stars, winning lucrative record deals and scoring top performance opportunities at shows like Coachella, the annual music and arts festival held in California. Hallie Miller, baltimoresun.com, "The EDM industry tends to be male-centric. Here’s how Baltimore’s female DJs are trying to combat that.," 7 Aug. 2019 In its version of 1969 L.A., African Americans are also invisible and a few Latinx characters — arguably authentic to how 1960s Hollywood treated them, as Erick Galindo writes in L.A. Taco — are largely nameless and silent. Jen Yamatostaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, "Bruce Lee’s family calls ‘Once Upon a Time’ ‘a mockery.’ Is it insult or homage?," 31 July 2019 Fifty days on from the first huge marches, the territory's nameless, leaderless protest movement is escalating. The Economist, "Yet another tense and violent weekend puts Hong Kong on edge," 28 July 2019 But the new study developed a statistical model to calculate the possibility that any entry of nameless data can be connected to their true identity. Sophie Bushwick, Scientific American, ""Anonymous" Data Won't Protect Your Identity," 23 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nameless.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of nameless

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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More Definitions for nameless

nameless

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of nameless

: having a name that is not known or told
: not having a name
: not marked with a name

nameless

adjective
name·​less | \ ˈnām-ləs How to pronounce nameless (audio) \

Kids Definition of nameless

1 : having no name a nameless species
2 : not marked with a name a nameless grave
4 : not to be described Upon entering the house he suffered nameless fears.

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More from Merriam-Webster on nameless

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with nameless

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for nameless

Spanish Central: Translation of nameless

Nglish: Translation of nameless for Spanish Speakers