bloodless

adjective

blood·​less ˈbləd-ləs How to pronounce bloodless (audio)
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 At one point one of these execs gets shot with a fake arrow during the ensuing, bloodless mayhem. Zack Sharf, Variety, 3 Nov. 2023 After the antigovernment Maidan revolution in 2014 in Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin moved to annex Crimea in a bloodless operation enabled by the popular local rejection of the Maidan revolution and by the defection of Crimean elites to the Russian state. Robert Hornsby, Foreign Affairs, 24 Oct. 2023 At the same time, Kearney’s bloodless analysis can invite subversion of the sort that Baum might encourage. Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2023 But ‘Cherish’ is a bloodless affair, a sickly-sweet melody backing up a somewhat creepy lyric about fixating too hard on a girl. Paul Grein, Billboard, 25 Sep. 2023 That movie earned a bloodless $26 million globally. Brent Lang, Variety, 11 Aug. 2023 The miraculous bloodless end of Soviet totalitarian Communism and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 were not bloodless after all. Roger Cohen Nanna Heitmann, New York Times, 6 Aug. 2023 Moon eventually made peace with his neighbors, in part by offering above-market prices for their catch, but this frequently antagonistic incursion helped spur the meteoric rise in overfishing, and in this retelling feels strangely bloodless. Clea Simon, BostonGlobe.com, 13 July 2023 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Rated PG-13 for largely bloodless violence. Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 28 June 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bloodless.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of bloodless was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near bloodless

Cite this Entry

“Bloodless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bloodless. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

bloodless

adjective
blood·​less ˈbləd-ləs How to pronounce bloodless (audio)
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 How to pronounce bloodless (audio)
: free from or lacking blood
a bloodless surgical field
bloodlessly adverb
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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