breathless
adjective
Simple meaning
Having no wind.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
brehthluhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɹɛθləs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Having difficulty breathing; gasping.
Having no wind; still, calm or airless.
Not breathing or able to breathe except with difficulty
“Breathless at thought of what I had done.”
Having a somewhat hysterical tone, using over-emotive language.
Not breathing; dead or apparently so.
That makes one hold one's breath (with excitement etc.).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Out of breath.
Out of breath, gasping for air.
Panting and out of breath.
Word Family
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.