flightless

From flight +‎ -less.

• enPR: flīt'lĭs

• Audio (US):

  (file)

flightless (not comparable)

1. Unable to fly.
   1. (usually) Describing kinds of birds that normally cannot fly, such as the penguin, ostrich, and emu.

      Synonyms: nonflying, nonvolant

      Antonyms: flying, volant

      Coordinate terms: flighted, unflighted

      Near-synonyms: apterous, wingless

      The indigenous fauna of Australia and New Zealand featured an especially interesting array of flightless birds.

      • 2010, Alexander Elder, Straying from the Flock: Travels in New Zealand:

        America has its bald eagle and New Zealand has its kiwi, a flightless brown bird.

   2. (uncommon) Describing an individual bird that normally would be able to fly but in this case cannot, such as an injured sparrow.

      The animal shelter has a flightless sparrow named Shiny, who seems to make up for his disability by being an avid runner.

   3. (uncommon, humorous) Suddenly deprived of a scheduled (airline) flight by its cancellation.

      Oh great, some wind is blowing in Chicago, so now I'm flightless in Seattle, because this airline can't cope!