How do you pronounce headless?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhɛdləs/.

Where does headless come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

headless

/ˈhɛdləs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.01 in modern English

Syllables: head-less
IPA: /ˈhɛdləs/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Without a head (body part).

adj

Without a head (body part).

adj

Without a head (hardware or device feature).

adj

Without leadership.

adj

Not having a head morpheme or word.

adj

Running without a graphical user interface; running without any attached output device (e.g., monitor) or input device (e.g., keyboard, mouse).

adj

Without a head of foam.

adj

Heedless.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

"How did the headless horseman see to chase Ichabod?"
"headless invertebrates"
"a headless nail; a headless set screw"
"The headless army blundered along after the death of their general, accomplishing nothing."
"His forsaken soldiers, being now a headless company, and no longer an army to be feared, obtained nevertheless a reasonable composition from the Carthaginians […]"
"/redirect. Used for console redirection in headless servers."

Etymology

From Middle English heedles, hevedles, from Old English hēafodlēas (“headless”), equivalent to head + -less. Cognate with Dutch hoofdloos (“headless”), Danish hovedløs (“headless”), Swedish huvudlös (“headless”), Icelandic höfuðlaus (“headless”). Piecewise doublet of chefless and chiefless.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *kap-, heedles, hēafodlēas

Usage

Obsolete

Derived Forms

headlessly headlessness

Phrases

headless browser headless chicken monster Headless Cross headless genitive headless horseman Headless Horsewoman headless lounge headless over heels

Frequently Paired Words

rudderless

Synonyms

beheaded deheaded decapitated unheaded leaderless brainless

Rhymes With

leadless