Meaning & use
breathless
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Unable to breathe easily because of physical effort or a strong feeling.
Grammar: Used after a linking verb like be, feel, or leave: She was breathless after the run.
Patterns
- be breathless from something
- leave someone breathless
He was breathless after climbing the stairs.
The news left her breathless with surprise.
Running to catch the bus made him breathless.
adjectivenot comparable
Feeling or causing great excitement, as if you can hardly breathe.
Grammar: Often used before a noun: a breathless crowd, or after a linking verb: The audience was breathless.
Patterns
- be breathless with excitement
- a breathless moment
The final scene was breathless with tension.
The crowd was breathless as the winner was announced.
She gave a breathless account of her adventure.
Common combinations
- breathless with excitement
- The children were breathless with excitement on the first day of the trip.
- leave someone breathless
- The beauty of the mountain view left us breathless.
- breathless from running
- He arrived breathless from running all the way.
Synonyms and how they differ
- winded
- Winded means you have had the air knocked out of you, often by a blow or a sudden effort; breathless is broader and can also mean excited.
- panting
- Panting describes the visible action of breathing quickly with your mouth open; breathless describes the feeling or state, not the action.
Opposites
Word family
- breathlessly adverb
- In a way that shows you can hardly breathe, often from excitement.
- breathlessness noun
- The state of being unable to breathe easily.
Commonly confused: breathless or breath?
breathless vs breath
Breath is the noun for the air you take in; breathless is the adjective meaning unable to breathe easily. Don't confuse the spelling: breathless has no 'e' after 'breath'.
Practice
After the marathon, she was completely ______ and had to sit down.
Choose one answer.
The adjective 'breathless' fits after 'was' to describe her state. 'Breathlessly' is an adverb and would need a verb like 'spoke'. 'Breath' is a noun and cannot follow 'was' here. 'Breathing' would mean she was alive, not out of breath.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “breathless”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.