subjectless
adjEtymology From subject + -less.
1
Lacking a subject (citizen).
- The subjects without King can do nothing; the subjectless King can do something.1840, Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and Hero Worship:
2
Lacking a subject or theme.
- Using a painstaking technique favored by 15th-century Italians for their most sacred images, Young makes disarmingly beautiful pictures in a loose, almost subjectless language of color and texture and form.1992 May 8, Mitchell Stevens, “Andrew Young”, in Chicago Reader:
3
Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences Lacking a grammatical subject.
- “We’re here to help you” versus “Were here to help you” makes no sense; a subjectless, past-tense message — as in, “The doctors were here to help you, but now they’re gone” — has scarcely appeared in the history of the universe.2007 July 15, Ann Hodgman, “Children’s Books”, in New York Times:
- Derived terms
- subjectlessly, subjectlessness