US /ˈwɔtɚləs/ UK /ˈwɔːtələs/
adj Freq #107464

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    containing no water or lacking an adequate supply of water

    The abandoned wells were dry and waterless.

  2. 2
    adj

    designed to operate or be used without water

    The building installed waterless urinals to reduce consumption.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adj · containing no water or... dryaridanhydrous
2 adj · designed to operate or be... water-free
Opposites
water-filledhydrated
Word family
Related forms waterdroughtaridity

Etymology

From Middle English waterles, continuing Old English waeterleas, a compound equivalent to water + -less. Cognates occur across the Germanic languages, including Dutch waterloos and German wasserlos.

Topics

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