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flightless

adjective

  1. lacking the capacity to fly
L47796 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *plew- Proto-Indo-European *plewk- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *pléwketi Proto-Germanic *fleuganą Proto-West Germanic *fleugan Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Germanic *-þiz Proto-West Germanic *-þi Proto-West Germanic *fluhti Old English flyht Middle English flight English flight Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der. Proto-Germanic *leusaną Proto-Germanic *lausaz Proto-Germanic *-lausaz Proto-West Germanic *-laus Old English -lēas Middle English -les English -less English flightless From flight + -less.

  1. Unable to fly.

    Near-synonyms: apterous, wingless

    The indigenous fauna of Australia and New Zealand featured an especially interesting array of flightless birds.

  2. Unable to fly.

    The animal shelter has a flightless sparrow named Shiny, who seems to make up for his disability by being an avid runner.

  3. Unable to fly.

    Oh great, some wind is blowing in Chicago, so now I'm flightless in Seattle, because this airline can't cope!