Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Lacking the sense of sight; blind: "Sightless" describes a person, animal, or being that is unable to see. It is a formal or literary synonym for "blind."
   • Invisible; not able to be seen: In poetic or archaic usage, "sightless" can describe something that cannot be seen by the eye.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective (Lacking sight):
  • The organization provides guide dogs for sightless individuals.
  • In the story, the hero helps a sightless old man cross the treacherous mountain path.
• Adjective (Invisible - poetic/archaic):
  • The poet wrote of "sightless spirits" wandering the moors.

Advanced Usage

• "Sightless of": Unaware or heedless of something (rare, literary usage).
  • He was sightless of the dangers that lay ahead, so focused was he on his goal.

Variants and Related Words

• Sightlessly (adverb): In a blind manner.
  • He stared sightlessly out the window.
• Sighted (adjective): Having the ability to see; not blind. (This is the direct antonym).
  • The museum offers tours for both sighted and visually impaired visitors.

Synonyms

• Blind: The most common and direct synonym.
• Visually impaired: A more modern and respectful term, often preferred in formal contexts.
• Unseeing: Often used to describe eyes that do not see, either literally or metaphorically.

Antonyms

• Sighted: Having vision.
• Seeing: Able to see.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• As blind / sightless as a bat: A common simile emphasizing complete lack of sight.
  • Without his glasses, he's as sightless as a bat.
• Turn a blind / sightless eye: To ignore something deliberately. (Note: "blind eye" is the vastly more common idiom).
  • The manager turned a sightless eye to the minor infraction. (This is a less common, literary variation).

Adjective

1. lacking sight
   • blind as an eyeless beggar