bloodless

adjective

blood·​less ˈbləd-ləs 

1

: deficient in or free from blood

2

: not accompanied by loss or shedding of blood

a bloodless victory

3

: lacking in spirit or vitality

4

: lacking in human feeling

bloodless statistics

bloodlessly adverb

bloodlessness noun

Examples of bloodless in a Sentence

They took control of the government in a bloodless coup.

Her speeches are dull and bloodless.

a bunch of bloodless numbers and statistics

His face was bloodless with fear.

Recent Examples on the Web

Israel could also revert to the ways of its yearslong shadow war with Iran, orchestrating some kind of bloodless cyberattack or relying on spy craft and covert actions against Iranian interests, inside or outside Iran, without claiming responsibility for them. —Michael Levenson, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2024

For a brief time, there emerged on the horizon the glimmers of a bloodless alternative to the War on Drugs. —Patrick Winn, Rolling Stone, 13 Apr. 2024

British actress Rosamund Pike, nominated for her role as the bloodless matriarch in Saltburn, stepped out in Dior Fall 2019 couture. —Carol McColgin, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Mar. 2024

Matar had written about similar upheavals becoming a feature of daily life in Libya, not long after Qaddafi first seized power in a bloodless coup in 1969. —Hazlitt, 3 Apr. 2024

Cook left behind voluminous logs and journals; the entries in these, too, are generally bloodless. —Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024

Pakistani journalists adapt Pakistani media blossomed under the military dictatorship of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who took control in a bloodless coup in October 1999. —Hasan Ali, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Mar. 2024

That would be a change for Portugal, which in April celebrates the 50-year anniversary of a bloodless military insurrection that overthrew the country’s right-wing dictatorship. —Dominique Soguel, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Mar. 2024

When my daughter, Liv, filled out college applications for the University of California system, five short essays were required, giving students a chance to make an impression beyond bloodless grades and GPA. —Erik Himmelsbach-Weinstein, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

bloodless

adjective

blood·​less ˈbləd-ləs 

1

: having less blood than normal

2

: done without bloodshed

a bloodless revolution

3

: lacking in spirit or feeling

bloodlessly adverb

bloodlessness noun

Medical Definition

bloodless

adjective

blood·​less ˈbləd-ləs 

: free from or lacking blood

a bloodless surgical field

bloodlessly adverb