matchless

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English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From match +‎ -less, modelled after or partly continuing Middle English makeless (having no peer or equal, matchless), equivalent to make +‎ -less. Compare Swedish makalös (incomparable, matchless), Danish mageløs (matchless).

Adjective

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matchless (comparative more matchless, superlative most matchless)

  1. Having no match; without equal.
    • 1819, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 8, in Ivanhoe:
      [T]he Prince was to declare the victor in the first day's tourney, who should receive as prize a warhorse of exquisite beauty and matchless strength.
    • 2002, Daniel Okrent, "Books: A Prince of a Pitcher" (Review of: Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy), Time, 30 Sept.:
      It was not his matchless talent that exalted Koufax beyond his greatest contemporaries so much as it was his knowledge that character was not connected to talent.
  2. Having no mate.
    • 2010 June 1, Sandra Brennan, “Movies: The Flying Matchmaker (1966)”, in nytimes.com, retrieved 13 September 2010:
      In this comedy, a matchmaker has a matchless daughter. Try as he might, he cannot seem to find anyone for her.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From match +‎ -less.

Adjective

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matchless (not comparable)

  1. Without the use of matches for ignition.
    a matchless stove