headless

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headless

/ˈhɛdləs/

Rhymes with -ɛdləs

Where it comes from

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.

adjective

not comparable Synonym of decapitated. How did the headless horseman see to chase Ichabod?
Similar: beheaded, deheaded, decapitated
not comparable Naturally having and needing no head. headless invertebrates
not comparable Without a head (hardware or device feature). a headless nail; a headless set screw
Similar: unheaded
not comparable Without leadership. The headless army blundered along after the death of their general, accomplishing nothing.
Similar: leaderless
not comparable, of a phrase or compound Not having a head morpheme or word.
not comparable Running without a graphical user interface; running without any attached output device (e.g., monitor) or input device (e.g., keyboard, mouse). /redirect. Used for console redirection in headless servers.
not comparable, of beer Without a head of foam.
not comparable, obsolete Heedless. 1579, E. K. (Edward Kirke?), Notes on Spenser’s The Shepheardes Calender If any one will rashly blame such his choice of old and unwonted words, him may I more justly blame and condemn, either of witless headiness in judging, or of headless hardiness in condemning.
not comparable, obsolete Rimless, not having a cartridge case rim (flange). A headless shell doesn't have a flange.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: acephalous, unintelligent, brainless, stupid, decapitated, beheaded, unattended, unmet, revenant, bareheaded, acephalic, foreheadless, capless, scalpless, acranial, neckless

Translations

Every language

adj without a head

中文	無頭的 /无头的 wútóu de
Português	acéfalo
Français	sans tête, acéphale, décapité
Deutsch	kopflos
Ελληνικά	ακέφαλος akéfalos
Русский	безголо́вый bezgolóvyj, обезгла́вленный obezglávlennyj

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MLA

"headless." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/headless. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

headless. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/headless

Chicago

"headless." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/headless.

BibTeX

@misc{headless_2026,
  title = {headless},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/headless},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}