maidenless

English

Etymology

From maiden +‎ -less. Popularized by its use in a quotation in the video game Elden Ring, released on February 25, 2022, referring to the "Maiden" guide who allows the player to progress.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪdənləs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Adjective

maidenless (comparative more maidenless, superlative most maidenless)

1. (literally) Having no maidens.
   • 1915, Michael Sadleir, Hyssop, London: Constable & Co. Limited, page 190:

     Philip had sulkily allowed himself to be dragged into it, and had perched disconsolately in one corner of the group among other maidenless youths.

   • 1952, Dave Lougee, “Should You Plead with My Story”, in The Sewanee Review, volume 50, Baltimore, M.A.: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 703:

     What I sing in the maidenless tower, no stone-eyed king
     Could grant, nor limping beggar tell.

   • 1966, Ovid, translated by Beram Saklatvala, Ars Amatoria [On Love], London: Charles Skilton Ltd., page 18:

     By Romulus, founder of Rome, were shows of this nature established,
     When the Sabine women were raped, to pleasure his maidenless men.

   • 1971, Manny Farber, Negative Space: Manny Farber on the Movies, New York, N.Y., Washington, D.C.: Praeger Publishers, page 8:

     Seen between two of the sententiously parted shoulders is Willie's Lola, an ambiguous solitary gardenia in an otherwise maidenless tribe.

   • 1999, Dave Duncan, Lord of the Fire Lands, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 323:

     Perhaps he had brought the seventy-seven beautiful maidens?
     No. He heaved a few more earls aside and appeared, flushed in the flickering light of the torches, panting but maidenless.

   • 2010, Bruce Coville, The Last Hunt, New York, N.Y.: Scholastic Press, →ISBN, page 20:

     Lightfoot noted that there were not enough maidens to go around, so that most groups were maidenless. "Go!" cried Beloved again.

   • 2022, FromSoftware (developer), Hidetaka Miyazaki, George R. R. Martin (writers), Elden Ring, →OCLC:

     Have you heard of the finger maidens? They serve the Two Fingers, offering guidance, and aid, to the Tarnished. But you, I am afraid, are maidenless. I can play the role of maiden. Turning rune fragments into strength. To aid you in your search for the Elden Ring. You need only take me with you. To the foot of the Erdtree.

2. (rare) Uncharacteristic of a maiden; (by extension) vulgar, uncouth, unladylike.

   Synonym: unmaidenly

   • a. 1603, Thomas Cartwright, A Confvtation of the Rhemists Translation, Glosses and Annotations on the Nevv Testament, published 1618, page 39:

     Now againſt coming the authority of the Greeke Church, which neuer liked of the maidenleſſe maidenhood of their Prisſts: they anſwer, that Epiphanius a Greek Doctor, telleth them, that they do it against order: doe you hold the skales euen? you haue neither skales nor weights of Scripture, nor you dare ſcarce profeſſe to haue any.

   • 1840 September 12, E.E., “A Chapter on Old Women”, in The Albion, volume 2, number 37, page 1, column 2:

     There is no species of the class mammalia more frowned upon than old women,—the arrows of disdain and criticism fly pretty sharply about their gray locks. The most polite man in polished society frequently becomes bankrupt of the title when he is called upon to prove his possession of it before an old woman. The young man invariably leaves them to their "maidenless meditations," except when their maternal affections are given to a young, looming and gentle creature of bashful sixteen, who may have but slight objections to the practical example of "exchange" being no "robbery," between a mother and a husband.

   • 1967, R. Daniel McMichael, The Journal of David Q. Little, New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, page 275:

     But she returned home with the air of a woman. It was in her eyes, in her walk, in her mannerisms, in her voice; a kind of flip sureness; a maidenless insolence which betrayed to me, at least, that she knew all there was to know and, perhaps, then some.

   • 2005, Jessica Barksdale Inclán, Walking With Her Daughter, Thorndike, M.A.: Center Point Publishing, →ISBN, page 70:

     Who cared? What did it matter? She was the fire-breathing crone, the maidenless mother, a Mrs. Robinson plus some.

3. (Internet slang) Single; lacking a girlfriend. [from 2022]

   Hypernym: loverless

   • 2023 February 6, Adam Rothbarth, “The Best Unique Video Game Merch 2023”, in VICE‎^[3], archived from the original on 2023-03-04:

     You might be maidenless, but this Banished Knight's Greatsword replica from Elden Ring will give you the confidence you need to absolutely slay in all arenas of your life.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:maidenless.
4. (Internet slang, by extension, derogatory) Generally rude, obnoxious, pathetic, or contemptible; incel-like. [from 2022]

   maidenless behaviour

   • 2022 March 19, @James_OG_Lee, Twitter‎^[4], archived from the original on 2023-04-24:

     Not tipping your bartenders is absolute maidenless behavior.

   • 2022 March 20, @erickoenreich, Twitter‎^[5], archived from the original on 2023-07-24:

     Criticizing someone for starting an OnlyFans is truly maidenless behavior.

   • 2022 May 25, Ashley Bardhan, “(article title)”, in Kotaku‎^[6], archived from the original on 2023-02-28:

     Elon Musk's Dumb Elden Ring Build Proves The Billionaire Is Maidenless

   • 2022 May 28, Joshua Robertson, “Elden Ring Players Go On A Date, Gets Ruined By Invader”, in The Gamer‎^[7], archived from the original on 2022-05-31:

     All Jolly_Old_Lautrec got for their maidenless behaviour was a Rune Arc and the satisfaction of knowing they destroyed the one tender moment in all of Elden Ring.

   • 2022 August 5, @danganronpawiki, Twitter‎^[8], archived from the original on 2023-07-07:

     Reminder as per when these bunny figures come out, that this is an unofficial fan twitter run by one person, for free, so if you make me read you being absolutely maidenless in my notifications you will get sent to blocktown 👌

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:maidenless.

See also

• big divorce energy ("psychological state characteristic of a recently-divorced person")

 

Further reading

• “maidenless”, in Urban Dictionary, launched 1999.