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

That Rae’s vocals were processed into bloodless oblivion didn’t help. —Amanda Petrusich, New Yorker, 9 June 2025

There is plenty of commentary, even among users of other platforms, about how Threads is bloodless (and owned by Mark Zuckerberg), Mastodon is inscrutable, and Bluesky is humorless. —Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 23 May 2025

The procedure is quick, simple and, as these things go, relatively bloodless. —Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 20 Mar. 2025

As a result, even formerly bloodless technocrats have found new vigor when being picked on by the Trump administration. —Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2025

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