Childless Meaning
/tʃˈaɪldləs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjNot having any children.
Sentence Examples
Tom and Mary died childless.
I'm single and childless.
The childless couple decided to adopt a baby from the orphanage.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ couple decided to adopt a puppy instead of having a baby.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ couple decided to adopt a child from another country city.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English childles; equivalent to child + -less.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I am a lone wolf, a solitary man, wandering through a world in which I have no part. I am wifeless—childless—who is it speaks of the childless as the dead twigs on the tree of life?"
— 1899 January 7 – May 5, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter I, in When the Sleeper Wakes, London; New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, published 1899, →OCLC:
"“He’s a 70-year-old childless warmonger and he has no stake in the future of this country,” Dans said. “He is the very reason that MAGA started in the first place, and we only have to look at 2016 when he was a vehement Trump hater. A leopard doesn’t change its spots.”"
— 2025 July 28, Steve Contorno, quoting Paul Dans, “Project 2025 architect Paul Dans to challenge Lindsey Graham for Senate in South Carolina”, in CNN:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ couple decided to adopt a puppy instead of having a baby.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ couple decided to adopt a child from another country city.