spiritlessadj.

1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. G4 ^v His Poetry more spiritlesse than smal beere.

1675 R. Boyle Exper. & Observ. Tasts 35 in Exper. Particular Qualities The juice of Grapes, which, from a sweet and spiritless Liquour, do..acquire that pleasing pungency and briskness of tast that belongs to Wine.

1685 J. Yonge Medicaster Medicatus Pref. sig. A6 One whose insipid, spiritless writings, could not flame by opposition.

1737 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 12/2 A literal Translation of the Hebrew Code..must necessarily be,..at best, but flat, insipid, and spiritless.

1797 T. Holcroft tr. F. L. Stolberg Trav. I. xlvi. 303 These colours, when singly laid on, are entirely spiritless.

1801 M. Edgeworth Prussian Vase in Moral Tales III. 2 It was her business, to sketch designs..but..the figures were awkward, and spiritless.

1882 ‘E. Lyall’ Donovan I. v. 112 This singularly dull and spiritless meal.

1941 Wisconsin State Jrnl. 25 May 18/3 They are spiritless paintings with the exception of the works of Mary Elizabeth Brooks.

1987 Hispania 70 655/2 Some of the poems are light and fun; others are dull and spiritless.

2016 Times (Nexis) 17 Nov. 13 The Van Gogh Museum described the sketches as imitations, saying that they were monotonous, clumsy and spiritless.

1609 R. Abbot 3rd Pt. Def. Reformed Catholike 166 We may beforehand perceiue how faint and spiritlesse M. Bishops voice will be when the time shall come.

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 484. ⁋5 Men have indulged themselves in a spiritless Sheepishness.

1796 F. Burney Camilla II. iii. ii. 38 The evening was passed in spiritless conversation.

1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands II. 133 That spiritless apathy with which the subjects of the Italian principalities submitted to the rule of their despotic masters.

1878 T. Hardy Return of Native III. iv. iv. 5 The spiritless stir of the summer wind.

1932 Times 2 Feb. 10/3 The flatness of the fun was in some measure due to spiritless acting.

1988 Musical Times 129 680/3 The depressing effect..was reflected in mainly colourless singing and soggy, spiritless orchestral playing.

2005 News-Jrnl. (Daytona Beach, Florida) (Nexis) 12 Nov. 1 c The team had played a sloppy and spiritless match.

1595 A. Duncan Appendix Etymologiae: Index in Latinae Grammaticae Iners, lither, spiritles.

?1609 G. Chapman tr. Homer Twelue Bks. Iliads v. 89 Feare Doth neither hold me spiritless, nor slouth.

1651 N. Biggs Matæotechnia Medicinæ Praxeωs 63 We are uselesse and spiritlesse to our selves and the Common-Wealth.

1702 J. Dennis Monument 12 Their Soldiers and Commanders all grown faint, Dejected, spiritless with frequent Routs.

1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. viii. 216 The infantry was a half-armed spiritless crowd of peasants.

1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xxxii. 312 You are a base and spiritless scoundrel!

1884 A. C. Swinburne Midsummer Holiday & Other Poems 169 As a swordless and spiritless nation.

1913 J. E. F. Mann et al. Real Democracy ii. 43 Those who do not revolt against it [sc. the wage-system] are confessedly spiritless tame men who will take any insult lying down.

1984 K. Williams Diary 6 June (1993) 697 It ruined me for the show 'cos I was spiritless and the confidence ebbed away. Just about managed to keep my professional countenance.

2013 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 7 July a12 A German shepherd was too timid and spiritless to come out of its doghouse for food.

1798 W. Marshall Rural Econ. Southern Counties II. 133 The tenantry..are as poor, weak, and spiritless, as their lands.

a1854 Ld. Cockburn Memorials (1856) iii. 168 The publishers we had were too spiritless even for their position.

1861 S. Smiles Lives Engineers II. v. 49 The country was too poor or too spiritless to undertake their improvement on any comprehensive scale.

1958 Western Polit. Q. 11 380 Bored, spiritless, and apathetic students.

2010 Sunday Times (Nexis) 28 Feb. 32 The younger contenders have been a weedy, spiritless bunch, all too happy to tailor their routines, personalities and aspirations to the narrow demands of a tinpot television show.