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flightless. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
flightless, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
flightless in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
flightless you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From flight + -less.
Pronunciation
Adjective
flightless (not comparable)
- Unable to fly.
- (usually) Describing kinds of birds that normally cannot fly, such as the penguin, ostrich, and emu.
- Synonyms: nonflying, nonvolant
- Antonyms: flying, volant
- Coordinate terms: flighted, unflighted
- Near-synonyms: apterous, wingless
The indigenous fauna of Australia and New Zealand featured an especially interesting array of flightless birds.
2010, Alexander Elder, Straying from the Flock: Travels in New Zealand:America has its bald eagle and New Zealand has its kiwi, a flightless brown bird.
- (uncommon) Describing an individual bird that normally would be able to fly but in this case cannot, such as an injured sparrow.
The animal shelter has a flightless sparrow named Shiny, who seems to make up for his disability by being an avid runner.
- (uncommon, humorous) Suddenly deprived of a scheduled (airline) flight by its cancellation.
Oh great, some wind is blowing in Chicago, so now I'm flightless in Seattle, because this airline can't cope!
Derived terms
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See also