Lightless

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈlaɪtlɛs/

Definitions

1. Devoid of illumination or lacking the presence of light
2. Completely lacking any source of light or brightness
3. Having no light present, resulting in total darkness

Etymology: "Lightless" is a plain compound: "light" with the suffix "-less," meaning "lacking, without." The word is far older than its modern look suggests. It descends from Old English "lēohtlēas," which already described something without light, and it passed into Middle English as "lightles." Its roots run back to a Proto-West Germanic form, *leuhtalaus, shared with the Dutch "lichtloos" and German "lichtlos," so the sense of a thing bereft of brightness has been stable across these related languages for well over a thousand years.

Synonyms: dark, shadowy, dim

Antonyms: bright, illuminated