hairless

Etymology

It is formed from English hair + -less,^[2][3][4][5] first as inherited from Middle English hereles.^[5][6] Hair goes back to Old English hǣr.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Without hair: the Middle English Dictionary quotes it from a Chauliac text probably written before 1425, of eyebrows that are stripped or hairless,^[5] and Dictionary.com dates it to 1375–1425.^[6] The OED's first record is from 1552, in Huloet's dictionary,^[2] and Etymonline also dates it to the 1550s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its plain sense, without hair, bald.^[2][7] Johnson (1755) quoted Shakespeare's line "White beards have arm'd their thin and hairless scalps".^[8] The noun hairlessness is recorded from the late 19th century.^[4] In British slang, go hairless means to get very angry;^[9][10] Green's Dictionary of Slang quotes it from 1982 and suggests it comes from tearing one's hair out in rage.^[10][9]

Timeline

• before 1425 – without hair.^[5][2]
• 1982 – go hairless, to get furious (British slang).^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having little or no hair; bald or glabrous.^[9][7][2]
2. (British slang) Very angry, especially in go hairless: Dad will go hairless when he sees the car.^[9][10]

Word family

• hairlessness
• Mexican hairless

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com