childless

childless — adjective

1. describes someone or a couple who do not have any sons or daughters, whether bec

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

describes someone or a couple who do not have any sons or daughters, whether because they decided not to have them or because circumstances prevent it.

Example

After years of trying, the Watanabes accepted being a childless couple.

attributive use before 'couple'

The charity offers financial help to childless families who are pursuing fertility treatments.

attributive use before 'families'

Synonyms
  • childfree

    describes someone who has actively chosen not to have children; carries a positive, intentional connotation, unlike childless which is neutral or sorrowful

  • barren

    strongly negative and dated when applied to people; now considered offensive in that context — use only for land or soil

  • without offspring

    clinical, formal tone; mostly used in legal or medical writing

Antonyms
  • parent

    a person who has one or more children

Usage Note

Childless often carries a neutral or slightly wistful tone, implying an absence that may not have been chosen. The newer term childfree (see synonyms) deliberately signals a positive choice and should not be used when the person wanted but could not have children.

Common Mistakes

They are a childfree couple who tried IVF for years.
They are a childless couple who tried IVF for years.
childfree implies a deliberate choice, so it contradicts the effort to conceive through IVF.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All three terms describe a state of having no children, but they differ sharply in tone and context. Childless is the neutral, everyday word: it covers anyone without children, regardless of the reason, though it often implies an undesired absence — a couple who tried to conceive and could not. Childfree, a more recent term coined in the 1970s, asserts a positive choice: being without children by preference, not by circumstance. Calling a childless couple 'childfree' can feel dismissive of their struggle. Barren is the oldest of the three, found in the King James Bible, but today it is strongly offensive when applied to people; it survives only in literal uses for land ('barren soil') or, rarely, in clinical historical texts. Choosing the right word shows respect for the person's situation: say childless unless you know the person identifies as childfree.

childless ↗childfreebarren ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • childless couple
  • childless woman
  • childless family
  • childless marriage
  • childless life

Adverbs

  • still childless
  • voluntarily childless
  • involuntarily childless
  • permanently childless

Phrases

  • remain childless
  • die childless
  • stay childless
  • end up childless

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Formed from child (from Old English cild, meaning 'infant' or 'unborn baby') and the suffix -less (from Old English -leas, meaning 'without, devoid of'). The suffix -less has been used since the Old English period to create adjectives indicating absence. Childless has been in continuous use since at least the 13th century.