childless

English

Etymology

From Middle English childles; equivalent to child +‎ -less.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Adjective

childless (not comparable)

  1. Not having any children.
    • 1899, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter I, in The Sleeper Awakes[1]:
      I am a lone wolf, a solitary man, wandering through a world in which I have no part. I am wifeless—childless—who is it speaks of the childless as the dead twigs on the tree of life?
    • 2025 July 28, Steve Contorno, quoting Paul Dans, “Project 2025 architect Paul Dans to challenge Lindsey Graham for Senate in South Carolina”, in CNN[2]:
      “He’s a 70-year-old childless warmonger and he has no stake in the future of this country,” Dans said. “He is the very reason that MAGA started in the first place, and we only have to look at 2016 when he was a vehement Trump hater. A leopard doesn’t change its spots.”

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