1
: having no teeth
2
a
: lacking in sharpness or bite
spoke in toothless generalities—
Arthur Hepner
Arthur Hepner
b
: lacking in means of enforcement or coercion : ineffectual
Examples of toothless in a Sentence
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The bill creates a toothless licensing regime with far less oversight than banks and allows shaky reserves as collateral.
—Mark Hays, Baltimore Sun, 12 May 2025
Of late, there have been some signs that Trump is willing to increase the pressure on Putin, even if in a rather toothless nature.
—Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 7 May 2025
The compact, now approved by faculty at more than a dozen universities, does not come with a commitment by school administrators to provide financial backing for a joint defense fund, and detractors have criticized the initiative as largely toothless.
—Tracey Tully, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
As previously reported by the Daily News, Duffy last week set his third in a line of seemingly toothless deadlines for New York to end the toll.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for toothless
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Mark Hays, Baltimore Sun, 12 May 2025
Of late, there have been some signs that Trump is willing to increase the pressure on Putin, even if in a rather toothless nature.
—Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 7 May 2025
The compact, now approved by faculty at more than a dozen universities, does not come with a commitment by school administrators to provide financial backing for a joint defense fund, and detractors have criticized the initiative as largely toothless.
—Tracey Tully, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
As previously reported by the Daily News, Duffy last week set his third in a line of seemingly toothless deadlines for New York to end the toll.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for toothless
Cite this Entry
“Toothless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toothless. Accessed 21 May. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
toothless
adjective
tooth·less
ˈtüth-ləs 
: having no teeth
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