briefless

9.9

A lawyer who has no clients or cases to represent

adjective
/ˈbrif.ləs/

: sin casos

After graduating, he spent several months as a briefless barrister in London.

Examples

Many aspiring advocates remain briefless until they have built a reputation.
The young lawyer lamented his briefless status at the firm party.
Don't worry, you won't be briefless for long!
The lawyer felt briefless after losing all his cases.
After graduating, he spent several months as a briefless barrister in London.
Many aspiring advocates remain briefless until they have built a reputation.
The young lawyer lamented his briefless status at the firm party.

Antonyms

busy

∞ 1.0

Full of activity with many things to do

How Busy

overworked

39 3.5

busy

∞ 1.0

available

377 2.3

briefless

9.9

unemployed

204 1.7

Surface Forms

briefless positive

Morphology

briefless = brief (semi-transparent) = brief + less

Formally 'brief' + '-less' is transparent, but the relevant sense of 'brief' (legal work/clients) is specialized and may be unknown to general learners.

Etymology

Briefless comes from the legal word brief, which originally means 'short' and now refers to a short written summary of a case, like a paper you might keep in a briefcase, and the ending -less means 'without'. So a briefless lawyer is 'without' briefs — in other words, a lawyer with no clients or cases to represent.