matchless

English

Etymology 1

From match +‎ -less, modelled after or partly continuing Middle English makeless (“having no peer or equal, matchless”), equivalent to make +‎ -less. Compare Swedish makalös (“incomparable, matchless”), Danish mageløs (“matchless”).

Adjective

matchless (comparative more matchless, superlative most matchless)

Having no match; without equal.
- 1819, Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, ch. 8:
  [T]he Prince was to declare the victor in the first day's tourney, who should receive as prize a warhorse of exquisite beauty and matchless strength.
- 2002, Daniel Okrent, "Books: A Prince of a Pitcher" (Review of: Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy), Time, 30 Sept.:
  It was not his matchless talent that exalted Koufax beyond his greatest contemporaries so much as it was his knowledge that character was not connected to talent.
Having no mate.
- 2010, Sandra Brennan, "Movies: The Flying Matchmaker (1966)," nytimes.com, 1 June (retrieved 13 Sep 2010):
  In this comedy, a matchmaker has a matchless daughter. Try as he might, he cannot seem to find anyone for her.

Synonyms

(without equal): incomparable, nonpareil, peerless, unequaled, unmatched, unparalleled, unsurpassed
(having no mate): single, unattached

Derived terms

matchlessly
matchlessness

Translations

without equal

Georgian: უბადლო (ubadlo), შეუდარებელი (šeudarebeli), სწორუპოვარი (sc̣oruṗovari)
Hungarian: utánozhatatlan (hu), egyedülálló (hu), páratlan (hu)
Japanese: 冠絶する (ja) (kanzetsu suru), 無敵の (muteki no)

Maori: kei tua o kapenga
Telugu: సాటిలేని (te) (sāṭilēni)

Etymology 2

match +‎ -less

Adjective

matchless (not comparable)

Without the use of matches for ignition.
a matchless stove