Anchorless

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Without a fixed point of support or stability; lacking something to hold one in place or provide security
2. Not having any point of attachment or secure hold to keep something steady
3. Describes an object or situation that does not have a stable or fixed fastening or securing point

Etymology: "Anchorless" is a plain compound: "anchor" plus the suffix "-less," meaning "without." The noun "anchor" has a long pedigree. It traces back through Latin "ancora" to Ancient Greek "ankyra," a word that also gave us the sense of a hooked tool, and it reached Old English as "ancor," so the seafaring object was already named in English long before the modern word took shape. The suffix is the older and more widely productive part. "-Less" descends from an Old English word meaning "free from" or "lacking," which also gave English "loose" in a related family of meanings. Attaching it to a noun creates an adjective describing something lacking that noun, so "anchorless" literally means "without an anchor." Its figurative use, for a ship or a life that has no fixed hold, grows naturally out of that literal sense.

Synonyms: adrift, unmoored, floating, unsecured, free

Antonyms: anchored, secured, moored, fixed, settled