shapelessness
1
6.1
- noun
- /ˈʃeɪpləsnəs/
- The danger, however, arises that the shapelessness will be viewed as the dominant characteristic of the whole genre, a genre bound to defy definition and flourish in many forms, to change from one century to another, and to interact with diary fiction.
Examples
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During the fog, the trees faded into a hazy shapelessness that made the landscape seem eerie.
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And, curiously, it is the title itself, despite the shapelessness it evokes, which begins to shape and display the novel's highly patterned structure.
Academic text (1994) -
They shuffled like skaters on the snow, their identities lost in their winter shapelessness.
Fiction book (1990) -
Expectant mothers were having their belly buttons pierced with gold rings so that the shapelessness of pregnancy would not make them feel old.
Fiction book (2001) -
Volume-to-point constructs have a definite time direction: from small to large, and from shapelessness (diffusion) to structure (channels and streams).
Academic text (1997) -
The artist's sculpture lacked form and clarity, embodying a sense of shapelessness that confused the viewers.
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The document was so vague that it was filled with shapelessness, making it difficult to discern its main points.
Synonyms
1
7.2
The state of having no clear shape or structure
1
7.8
A quality of having no clear shape, form, or character
1
7.0
Lack of clear detail that makes things hard to see or hear
Antonyms
How Shapeless
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Shapelessness is made from the common word shape and the parts -less ('without') and -ness ('a state'). So, shapelessness means the state of being 'without shape', or not having a clear, definite form.