Clawless

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Being devoid of any natural claw formations that are usually present in animals
2. Without the presence of claws that typically appear at the end of limbs in certain animals
3. Describes an animal or object that does not have the sharp curved nails normally found on some species

Etymology: "Clawless" is about as transparent as English compounds get: the noun "claw" with the suffix "-less," meaning "without." The formation is simple enough that the word needs little explanation beyond its parts. "Claw" itself is an older English word, and "-less" is a productive suffix that English has attached to countless nouns to mean "lacking" the thing named, from "hopeless" to "fearless." The pattern is worth noticing because it shows how English builds descriptive adjectives on the fly. Any noun that names a physical feature can be given "-less" to describe an animal, object or person lacking that feature, which is why the same suffix produces both "clawless" and "tailless" or "toothless." The word is therefore less a fixed item of vocabulary than a product of a rule English speakers apply whenever they need a precise way to say that something has no claws.

Synonyms: pawless, naked, bare, smooth, unclawed

Antonyms: clawed, armed, fanged, taloned, sharp