toothless
adjUS /ˈtuθləs/
Etymology From Middle English tothles, from Old English tōþlēas, from Proto-Germanic *tanþlausaz (“toothless”), equivalent to tooth + -less. Cognate with Dutch tandeloos (“toothless”), German Low German tannlos (“toothless”), German zahnlos (“toothless”), Danish tandløs (“toothless”), Swedish tandlös (“toothless”), Icelandic tannlaus (“toothless”).
1
Having no teeth.
- a toothless old man
- She goes on to explain the difficulty she's having getting visas for Lawrence and for Robert, the 14-year-old who is her older brother and is, amazingly, the last child of the toothless tiny woman who buzzes around us. (I find out later that she is only in her mid-fifties.)1983 December 24, Andrea Loewenstein, “"What's Freedom Without Food In Your Stomach?" -- A Trip to Haiti”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 23, page 8:
2
Figuratively Weak; having no ability to enforce something.
- The treaty was toothless because of the lack of participation from the undersigned.
- Not tell? Ha! ha! I could ſmile, / At this old, and toothleſſe vvile.1603 July 5 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), B[en] Jon[son], “A Particular Entertainment of the Queene and Prince Their Highnesse to Althrope, at the Right Honourable the Lord Spencers, on Saterday being the 25. of Iune 1603. as They Came First into the Kingdome; […]”, in B. Jon: His Part of King James His Royall and Magnificent Entertainement through His Honorable Cittie of London, Thurseday the 15. of March. 1603. […], London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] [and George Eld] for Edward Blount, published 1604, →OCLC, page 7:
2 more examples
- Bans of the sale of human remains across platforms like Facebook, Etsy, Instagram and eBay are toothless and poorly enforced, Huffer said. And when a page does get shut down, he said, it just pops up on a different website.2021 October 10, Caroline Anders, “A TikTok bone salesman’s wall of spines reignites ethical debate over selling human remains”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 17 Oct 2021:
- The glut of moronic, Roganesque dude-bro podcasts are long overdue for mocking, but this one is toothless.2024 November 17, Zach Vasquez, “Saturday Night Live: Charli xcx has fun in otherwise middle of the road episode”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 Dec 2024:
- Derived terms
- toothlessly, toothlessness, toothless whale
- Related terms
- canine-toothless, front-toothless