subjectless

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English

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Etymology

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From subject +‎ -less.

Adjective

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subjectless (not comparable)

  1. Lacking a subject (citizen).
    • 1840, Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and Hero Worship[1]:
      The subjects without King can do nothing; the subjectless King can do something.
  2. Lacking a subject or theme.
    • 1992 May 8, Mitchell Stevens, “Andrew Young”, in Chicago Reader[2]:
      Using a painstaking technique favored by 15th-century Italians for their most sacred images, Young makes disarmingly beautiful pictures in a loose, almost subjectless language of color and texture and form.
  3. (grammar) Lacking a grammatical subject.
    • 2007 July 15, Ann Hodgman, “Children’s Books”, in New York Times[3]:
      “We’re here to help you” versus “Were here to help you” makes no sense; a subjectless, past-tense message — as in, “The doctors were here to help you, but now they’re gone” — has scarcely appeared in the history of the universe.

Translations

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