artlessadj.

1586 W. Warner Albions Eng. i. i. 1 Thou high Director of the same assist my Artlesse pen.

1589 T. Nashe Anat. Absurditie sig. Eii^v The artlesse tongue of a tedious dolt.

1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iv. v. 20 So full of artlesse iealousie is guilt, It spills it selfe, in fearing to be spylt. View more context for this quotation

1628 G. Wither Britain's Remembrancer vii. 1184 Such artlesse riders, that they cannot sit them.

1647 R. Herrick Letanie to Holy Spirit in Noble Numbers 11 When the artlesse Doctor sees No one hope, but of his Fees And his skill runs on the lees; Sweet Spirit comfort me!

1708 J. Ozell tr. N. Boileau-Despréaux Lutrin 20 His Artless Novice-hand he lends.

1747 S. Johnson Plan Dict. 1 The work in which I engaged is generally considered..as the proper toil of artless industry.

1755 S. Johnson Hist. Eng. Lang. sig. D, in Dict. Eng. Lang. Their speech..must have been artless and unconnected, without any modes of transition or involution of clauses.

1847 Ld. Lindsay Sketches Hist. Christian Art I. 124 The artless artists seem to have worked on, from arch to arch..without a thought..of economising their space.

1954 New Eng. Q. 27 332 Skilled in turning the words of an artless man to party uses.

2001 Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) (Nexis) 27 May 5 An artless warrior who bludgeoned better generals into surrender by means of ruthless slaughter.

1598 J. Marston Scourge of Villanie ii. Proem. sig. D8 Seeking conceits to sute these Artlesse times.

1636 J. Ballard in Ann. Dubrensia sig. E4 The rugged Poem of an Art-lesse Muse.

1737 H. Baker tr. Virgil in Medulla Poetarum Romanorum II. 213 Before that Time Life was an artless State, Of Reason void, and thoughtless in Debate.

1774 J. Bryant New Syst. (new ed.) I. 46 The most dry and artless historians are in general the most authentic.

1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 216 A shadowy life—artless, joyless, loveless. No devices in that darkness of the grave.

1976 J. D. Andrew Major Film Theories vi. 168 The realistic filmmaker is not an artless man, though his film may appear devoid of artiness.

2002 MX (Melbourne) (Nexis) 20 June 20 Artless taggers dogging all of us.

1622 G. Wither Iuuenilia Pref. sig. ¶^v Many men will leaue a pruned Groue..to goe see, What pleasures in vntilled Mountaines be: And much delight in Woods to take the shade, Of Artlesse Arbors, by rude Nature made.

1672 J. Dryden in C. M. Ingleby & L. T. Smith Shakespeare's Cent. Prayse (1879) 348 Such Artless beauty lies in Shakespears wit.

1705 E. Arwaker Birth-night 4 Am'rous Pairs in Rosie Garlands crown'd, On Moss-green Carpets dance an artless Round.

1752 C. Lennox Female Quixote I. i. ii. 8 Curls, which had so much the appearance of being artless, that all but her maid..imagined they were so.

1754 Bp. T. Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. iv. 169 The Doctrines of the Gospel were artless and plain.

1799 in Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1800) 3 322 Sublime their artless locks they wear.

1852 A. Jameson Legends Madonna 152 The same artless grace, the same dramatic grouping.

1934 G. Heyer Convenient Marriage i. 2 The three Misses Winwood were grouped by the window, presenting an artless and agreeable picture.

2005 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 14 Apr. 18 Craftsman spider has spun her silken web with artless grace.

1714 E. Budgell Spectator No. 605. ⁋9 Imitation is a kind of artless Flattery.

1739 G. Ogle Gualtherus & Griselda 23 An artless Mind, Unpractis'd in the Trains of Womankind.

1766 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) III. 247 The artless people drank in every word.

1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall v. 43 The delightful blushing consciousness of an artless girl.

1868 A. P. Stanley Hist. Mem. Westm. Abbey i. 34 His artless piety and simple goodness.

1928 C. S. Whitehead & C. A. Hoff Ethical Sex Relations (new ed.) i. iii. 70 He may indeed pet, flatter, and indulge her as he would a grown daughter, and appreciate her artless innocence and girlish light-heartedness.

1951 L. P. Hartley My Fellow Devils iii. 18 Her artless questions led to further meetings..in the very house he had been burgling.

2007 Independent Extra (Nexis) 12 June What was amazing was not the deranged lewdness of her performance, but the sweet, artless way she smiled at the end.