wifeless

English

Etymology

From Middle English wifles, wyflees, from Old English wīflēas (“wifeless”), equivalent to wife +‎ -less.

Adjective

wifeless (not comparable)

1. Having no wife; unmarried or celibate.
2. Without a wife present.
   • 1962, Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire:

     I at once telephoned. The Shades were out, said the cheeky ancillula, an obnoxious little fan who came to cook for them on Sundays and no doubt dreamt of getting the old poet to cuddle her some wifeless day.