thowlessadj.
/ˈθaʊlᵻs/, /ˈθəʊlᵻs/, U.S. /ˈθaʊləs/, /ˈθoʊləs/, Scottish English /ˈθʌʊlᵻs/, /ˈθolᵻs/ Scottish.† 1. Without morality or virtue; wanton, dissolute, profligate; also, thoughtless. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > [adjective]
illa1200
thewlessa1327
unrightyc1350
wronga1382
noughtc1400
unhonestc1422
ill-disposedc1460
naughtyc1460
thowless1487
misaffectionate1533
naught1550
ill-conditioned1614
uncharactered1841
1487 How Good Wife taught her Daughter (St. John's Cambr.) 260 in J. Barbour Bruce (1877) 534 And chasty thame quhen thai do mys, Or rekles thoulass wantoun is.
a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) viii. l. 5933 Weil waxyn vp..And thowles þan, for his ȝoutheide To þat natur walde hym leide.
a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) viii. l. 3292 He was thowlace [National Libr. Scotl. wantone], and had in won,..oftsyis to ly Oþir syndry women by.
a1500 Ratis Raving i. 1264 This eild is thowles & wnswere, And ȝarnis play, and al blytht chere.
a1500 Thewis Gud Women (Cambr. Kk.1.5) l. 145 in R. Girvan Ratis Raving & Other Early Scots Poems (1939) 90 Women that has a thowlas hart.
2. Devoid of energy or spirit; inert, inactive; spiritless, listless.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > [adjective] > lacking vigour or energy
nesheOE
lustlessc1325
dowfa1522
unlikely1578
thowless1721
sapless1864
anergic1874
entropic1893
thewless1895
slowed-down1905
slowed-up1912
greyed-out1946
1721 A. Ramsay Prospect of Plenty 128 A poor and haughty drone, Wha thowless stands a lazy looker-on.
1728 A. Ramsay Widow in Tea-table Misc. vi Fortune..ruins the woer that's thowless and cauld.
1801 H. Macneill Poet. Wks. II. 44 Thowless, he tint his gate deep 'mang the snaw.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor xii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. I. 323 You, ye thowless jadd, to sit still and see my substance disponed upon to an idle, drucken, reprobate, worm-eaten serving-man.
a1875 J. Murray in D. H. Edwards Mod. Sc. Poets (1881) 3rd Ser. 150 The kye stand thowless on the croft.
Derivatives
ˈthowlessness n. †evil or immoral conduct, bad behaviour; wantonness, vice (obsolete); also, want of energy, ineffectiveness.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > [noun]
fiend-thewsc1275
misgovernancec1375
misusing1395
misrule?1406
misgovernmentc1450
misguiding1480
thowlessness1489
miscraft1496
demerit1509
misuse1509
misdemeanoura1513
prevarication1561
misguide1596
malconduct1684
misconduct1717
malversation1752
misdealing1851
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > [noun] > lack of vigour or energy
neshnesseOE
thowlessness1489
fecklessness1637
nervelessness1857
entropy1867
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 333 And till swylk thowlesnes he ȝeid, As the cours askis off ȝowtheid.
a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) vi. l. 264 Þat þai sulde noucht for idilnes Fal in til ewil thowlesnes.
1884 ‘J. Strathesk’ More Bits from Blinkbonny xi. 206 She did not quite like some of Bell's remarks about ‘wasterfu'ness’ and ‘thowlessness’, possibly because they were only too true.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1487