adj
toothless
TOOTH-luhs
adj
1
Having no teeth.
"The toothless old dog could only manage soft food."
2
Lacking any real power to enforce or punish; ineffective.
"Critics called the new regulations toothless, since they carried no real penalties."
"Without funding, the watchdog agency became a toothless bureaucracy."
How to Use Toothless
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither literally missing teeth, or (more commonly today) unable to actually enforce anything.
Memory tip
You'll most often meet this word describing weak laws, rules, or organizations rather than actual mouths.
Trace the full origin ↓
Common pairings
toothless law
toothless regulator
toothless smile
Word Forms
more toothless comparative, most toothless superlative
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The _____ old dog could only manage soft food.
Etymology
From Old English tōþlēas, built from "tooth" plus the suffix "-less" meaning "without".