formlessness
nounUK /ˈfɔːmləsnəs/ · US /ˈfɔɹmləsnəs/
Etymology From formless + -ness.
1
The quality of being formless.
- The way by light and shade is, on the contrary, taken by men of the highest powers of though, and most earnest desire for truth ; they long for light, and for knowledge of all tthat light can show. But seeking for light, they perceive also darkness ; seeking for truth and substance, they find vanity. They look for form in the earth.—for dawn in the sky ; and seeking these, they find formlessness in the earth, and night in the sky.1800, John Ruskin, Proserpina, Lovell, Coryell and Company, page 292:
- There also in it, as used both by poets and philosophers, a similar idea of formlessness, but with more of a metaphysical reference to inward law or organization than to mere outward shape.1855, Tayler Lewis, The Six Days of Creation, John Chapman, page 61:
1 more example
- But in truth neither is either, and both must be avoided. In sum, with the Sack, its formlessness is dangerous; with the Designer, its extremity is.2006, Nicholas Antongiavanni [pseudonym; Michael Anton], The Suit: A Machiavellian Approach to Men's Style, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 56: