sleeveless
Meaning
(of a garment) having no sleeves.
(informal) futile or pointless; unlikely to produce a desired result.
Structure
Usage
she wore a sleeveless dress to the summer party.
his apology was a sleeveless errand, as she had already decided to leave.
the athlete preferred a sleeveless jersey for greater freedom of movement.
Etymology
The word "sleeveless" is a transparent compound formed within English. The first element, "sleeve," has ancient Germanic origins, evolving from a term for a part of a garment into its modern specific meaning. The suffix "-less," also of Old English descent, is a highly productive morpheme that negates or indicates the absence of the noun it attaches to. Therefore, the literal construction "sleeve" + "without" directly yields the primary meaning of a garment lacking sleeves. The informal, figurative sense of "pointless" emerged later, drawing an analogy between a useless garment and a futile endeavor.
Analysis
"sleeve" originates from old english 'slēf, slȳf', likely related to the proto-germanic root meaning 'to slip on'. "less" is a suffix from old english '-lēas', meaning 'devoid of, free from', derived from a proto-germanic word for 'empty'.