Senseless

How to spell senseless

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce senseless

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does senseless mean?

1. adjectiveLacking good judgement, purpose, or meaning; pointless or foolish.
2. adjectiveUnconscious, having lost awareness or the ability to feel.

Senseless in a sentence

• The committee rejected the plan as a senseless waste of money.

• The boxer was knocked senseless in the third round.

• Arguing over such a tiny detail felt completely senseless.

• The fall left her lying senseless on the pavement until help arrived.

Where does senseless come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is an English compound built from the noun 'sense' plus the native suffix '-less', which means 'without' or 'lacking'. The 'sense' part traces back to the Latin sensus, meaning 'feeling, perception, or understanding', which itself came from the verb sentire, 'to feel or perceive'. English borrowed 'sense' through Old French in the 1300s, and by the late 1500s writers were attaching the old Germanic '-less' ending to form 'senseless', meaning 'without meaning' or 'without understanding'. The suffix '-less' is the same one seen in 'hopeless', 'careless', and 'fearless', and it always carries the idea of absence. A useful spelling cue is that the word simply welds 'sense' to 'less' with no letters added or dropped, so the double 's' in the middle comes from the final 's' of 'sense' meeting the first 's' of 'less'.

How the word is built

• sens (from Latin sensus: feeling, perception)
• -e
• -less (without, lacking)