childless

UK: /ˈtʃaɪldləs/

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

child /tʃaɪld/   n. [countable] , pl. chil•dren /ˈtʃɪldrən/.  

1. a young boy or girl:
   A young child doesn't usually want to share his or her toys.
2. a son or daughter:
   He has two children, a boy and a girl.
3. Developmental Biology a baby or infant:
   the rights of the unborn child are to be balanced by the right to privacy of the mother.
4. a person who behaves in a childish manner.
5. any person or thing regarded as the product of particular circumstances or influences:
   Abstract art is a child of the 20th century.

Idioms

6. Idioms with child, (of a human female) pregnant.

child•less, adj. 
child•less•ness, n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

child  (chīld), n., pl. chil•dren. 

1. a person between birth and full growth;
   a boy or girl:
   books for children.
2. a son or daughter:
   All my children are married.
3. Developmental Biology a baby or infant.
4. Developmental Biology a human fetus.
5. a childish person:
   He's such a child about money.
6. a descendant:
   a child of an ancient breed.
7. any person or thing regarded as the product or result of particular agencies, influences, etc.:
   Abstract art is a child of the 20th century.
8. a person regarded as conditioned or marked by a given circumstance, situation, etc.:
   a child of poverty; a child of famine.
9. British Terms a female infant.
10. [Archaic.] childe.
11. Idioms with child, pregnant:
    She's with child.

• bef. 950; Middle English; Old English cild; akin to Gothic kilthai womb

child′less, adj. 
child′less•ness, n. 

Child  (chīld), n. 

1. Biographical Lydia Maria (Francis), 1802–80, U.S. author, abolitionist, and social reformer.

child, +n. 

1. Developmental Biology a human fetus.