The Collaborative International Dictionary
Lifeless \Life"less\, a. Destitute of life, or deprived of life; not containing, or inhabited by, living beings or vegetation; dead, or apparently dead; spiritless; powerless; dull; as, a lifeless carcass; lifeless matter; a lifeless desert; a lifeless wine; a lifeless story. -- Life"less*ly, adv. -- Life"less*ness, n.
Syn: Dead; soulless; inanimate; torpid; inert; inactive; dull; heavy; unanimated; spiritless; frigid; pointless; vapid; flat; tasteless.
Usage: Lifeless, Dull, Inanimate, Dead. In a moral sense, lifeless denotes a lack of vital energy; inanimate, a lack of expression as to any feeling that may be possessed; dull implies a torpor of soul which checks all mental activity; dead supposes a destitution of feeling. A person is said to be lifeless who has lost the spirits which he once had; he is said to be inanimate when he is naturally wanting in spirits; one is dull from an original deficiency of mental power; he who is dead to moral sentiment is wholly bereft of the highest attribute of his nature.
Wiktionary
adv. Without life or appearing to be without life.
WordNet
adv. without animation or vitality; "lifelessly he performed the song"
in a lifeless manner; "the girl lay in her arms lifelessly"
as if dead [syn: deadly]
Usage examples of "lifelessly".
His body was lifted and tossed against the wall hard enough to imbed him momentarily in the plaster before his body plopped lifelessly to the floor.
His hair was limp, dishwater blond, and fell lifelessly to his slumping shoulders.
His large black eyes stared lifelessly at the ground before his feet.
At last, bursting inexplicably into tears, she gives way, but when she stands up to sing, obviously at the end of her resources, weary, her arms not widespread as usual but hanging lifelessly down, so that one gets the impression that they are perhaps a little too short -- just as she is about to strike up, there, she cannot do it after all, an unwilling shake of the head tells us so and she breaks down before our eyes.