breathless.

1. Unable to breathe easily or temporarily breathing with difficulty after exertion or another cause.

2. So excited, eager, or suspenseful that there seems to be no pause for composure.

3. Completely or almost motionless in air or atmosphere, with no felt breeze.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• breathless after running
• leave someone breathless
• a breathless speaker

On the page

She reached the landing breathless and waited before knocking.

The messenger was too breathless to explain why he had run.

Usage notes

Primary category: setting. Forms: Comparative more breathless; superlative most breathless where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.