lifeless
life·less/ˈlaɪfləs/adjective
lifeless is spelled L-I-F-E-L-E-S-S: 8 letters and 2 syllables (life·less). It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,516th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, lifeless means “inanimate; having no life” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in lifeless?
| Letters | 8: L-I-F-E-L-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: life·less |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,516th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is lifeless?
Lifeless appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,516th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lifeless?
- /ˈlaɪfləs/
Lifeless has 2 syllables, split life·less in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-lifeless.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of lifeless
- more lifeless comparative
- most lifeless superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lifeless mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
inanimate; having no life
- 2
dead; having lost life
- 3
uninhabited, or incapable of supporting life
- 4
dull or lacking vitality
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lifeless in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lifeless come from?
From Middle English lyfles, lifles, from Old English līflēas (“lifeless”), equivalent to life + -less. Cognate with West Frisian libbensleas (“lifeless”), Dutch levenloos (“lifeless”), German leblos (“lifeless”), Danish livløs (“lifeless”), Swedish livlös (“lifeless”), Icelandic líflaus (“lifeless”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).