toothlessness

1 4.6

A person or animal with no teeth

noun
/ˈtuːθləsnəs/

: edentulismo

After losing several teeth, his toothlessness made it difficult for him to eat certain foods.

Examples

His increasing toothlessness gives him a goofy look, like one of those beggars.

Fiction book (1998)
He parted his lips only slightly, and involuntarily, or perhaps deliberately, hid his toothlessness with his hands.

Fiction book (1996)
The dentist explained that toothlessness is common in older adults who have not received proper dental care.
Her toothlessness gave her a unique charm that made her smile more endearing.

Antonyms

toothed

25 3.7

Having teeth in the mouth for biting and chewing

Surface Forms

toothlessness singular

toothlessnesses plural

Morphology

toothlessness = toothless (transparent) = tooth + less + ness

The word 'toothlessness' is transparently derived from 'toothless' by adding the suffix '-ness' to indicate a state or condition.

Etymology

Toothlessness is made from the parts tooth and the ending -less, where -less means 'without'. Like homeless ('without a home'), toothlessness simply means 'without teeth', the state of having no teeth.