lipless

lipless — adjective

  • liplesspositive
  • more liplesscomparative
  • most liplesssuperlative

1. describes a mouth that has very little or no visible lip tissue, so the shape of

1.adjectiveC2
Definition

describes a mouth that has very little or no visible lip tissue, so the shape of the teeth or gums can be partly seen.

Example

Hao's lipless mouth made his teeth look very large when he smiled.

describes natural physical appearance of a person

The old fish had a lipless mouth with rows of tiny sharp teeth showing.

animal anatomy description

Common collocations
  • lipless mouth
  • lipless smile
  • lipless face
  • lipless look
  • lipless grin
Synonyms
  • thin-lipped

    more common than lipless; can also suggest anger or disapproval

Usage Note

Common in descriptions of elderly people with naturally thin lips, certain animals such as lizards and fish, and in fictional character portraits. Not used as an insult or in polite face-to-face comments about a person.

Common Mistakes

She is so lipless and ugly.
Her mouth is naturally lipless because her lips are very thin.
'lipless' is a neutral physical description, not an insult.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Thin-lipped, tight-lipped, and lipless all relate to the mouth but differ in scope and connotation. Thin-lipped is the most common and can describe both a person's natural mouth shape and, figuratively, a person who looks angry or unfriendly ('He gave a thin-lipped frown'). Tight-lipped almost always refers to someone who refuses to speak or share information ('She stayed tight-lipped about the surprise'). Lipless is the most literal and neutral — it describes a physical absence or near-absence of lip tissue without any emotional implication. For example: 'The doctor noted the patient's naturally lipless mouth' versus 'His thin-lipped expression showed his disapproval.'

thin-lippedtight-lipped ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Formed from the noun 'lip' (from Old English lippa, meaning the soft edge of the mouth) plus the suffix '-less' (from Old English -leas, meaning 'without'). The word has been used since the 1600s to describe a mouth or face lacking visible lips.