bonelessnessn.
/ˈbəʊnləsnəs/, U.S. /ˈboʊnləsnəs/ The quality or condition of being boneless (in various senses).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > weakness of character or will
unmighteOE
frailnessa1300
infirmityc1384
debility1474
brittleness1493
brucklenessc1500
weak side1668
weakness1748
washiness1763
feebleness1809–10
enervation1849
weak-mindedness1854
feet of clay1859
will-lessness1865
bonelessness1869
molluscousness1870
limpness1873
backbonelessness1882
invertebracy1882
weak-kneedness1882
invertebrateness1884
spinelessness1920
gutlessness1936
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [noun]
pliantnessa1398
bowablenessc1475
limberness1565
bowingness1580
pliableness1581
suppleness1584
flexibility1616
pliancy1632
flexure1651
flexility1660
pliability1725
compliancy1793
facility1853
yieldiness1857
whippiness1881
bonelessness1928
1869 Times 2 July 4 A woolly style of execution, in which figures and faces are wrought up to bonelessness.
1885 Spectator 20 June 805 They weary of the besetting defect of modern English statesmen, bonelessness.
1889 O. H. G. Leigh Dinnerol. iii. 41 Our ‘fish’ course would include salmon steaks, cod rissoles, oysters and other finny-cal morsels, and we prided ourselves on their bonelessness.
1928 Daily Express 9 Nov. 15/1 The softness of this chair!.. And its bonelessness and bendability!
1961 Economist 9 Sept. 999/2 The report bears many signs of the bonelessness to be expected from dual editing.
2003 Irish Times (Nexis) 19 Apr. 80 Hoki is a tasty New Zealand fish, that is fairly similar to cod in flavour and bonelessness, but which comes from a sustainable source.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1869