1
: having no teeth
2
a
: lacking in sharpness or bite
spoke in toothless generalities—
Arthur Hepner
Arthur Hepner
b
: lacking in means of enforcement or coercion : ineffectual
Examples of toothless in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Better to accept toothless retaliations amid Tehran’s slow decline.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 23 June 2025
However, the Sun have two veteran bucket-getters in Marina Mabrey and Tina Charles, but this is a largely toothless team with nearly no outside presence.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 17 June 2025
As global oil prices have fallen to the brink of the current threshold imposed for Russian oil products, European leaders argue that the cap has become toothless and are pushing to reinvigorate its impact ahead of the June 15–17 summit in Canada.
—Katya Soldak, Forbes.com, 13 June 2025
Duffy then extended the seemingly toothless deadline to April 20, then to May 21.
—Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 27 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for toothless
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 23 June 2025
However, the Sun have two veteran bucket-getters in Marina Mabrey and Tina Charles, but this is a largely toothless team with nearly no outside presence.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 17 June 2025
As global oil prices have fallen to the brink of the current threshold imposed for Russian oil products, European leaders argue that the cap has become toothless and are pushing to reinvigorate its impact ahead of the June 15–17 summit in Canada.
—Katya Soldak, Forbes.com, 13 June 2025
Duffy then extended the seemingly toothless deadline to April 20, then to May 21.
—Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 27 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for toothless
Cite this Entry
“Toothless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toothless. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
toothless
adjective
tooth·less
ˈtüth-ləs 
: having no teeth
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share