View synonyms for breathless

breathless

[ breth-lis ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

without breath or breathing with difficulty; gasping; panting:
We were breathless after the steep climb.
with the breath held, as in suspense, astonishment, fear, or the like:
breathless listeners of the mystery story.
causing loss of breath, as from excitement, anticipation, or tension:
a breathless ride.
dead; lifeless.
motionless or still, as air without a breeze:
a breathless summer day.

breathless

/ ˈbrɛθlɪs /

out of breath; gasping, etc
holding one's breath or having it taken away by excitement, etc
a breathless confrontation
(esp of the atmosphere) motionless and stifling
rare.
lifeless; dead

First recorded in 1350–1400, breathless is from the Middle English word brethles. See breath, -less

Suddenly, you are crying, breathless, raging, and on quieter days just going through the motions.

Whether it's breathless coverage of the New Black Panthers, or reports of vote buying in Mississippi, recent examples abound.

At his shows, I remember there being a hushed, breathless anticipation as we waited to see which song Smith would play next.

The community in which you were raised does not gather around the television set every four years for a solid, breathless month.

After a breathless waiting period in which the infected were quarantined, none of the six fell ill.

Again he stopped, but I made no comment, only waited with breathless interest till he went on.

Phœbe Chiffinch, breathless, is holding Alice Arden's wrist with a firm grasp.

Walter Fetherston was a writer of breathless mystery—but he was the essence of mystery himself.

In the privacy of Lawrence's room, Carl told his story—a story that Lawrence listened to breathless attention.

Light gleamed on the staircase, and breathless voices were wafted up to the two men.

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