brotlos
German edit
Etymology edit
Brot (“bread”) + -los (“-less”)
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Adjective edit
brotlos (strong nominative masculine singular brotloser, comparative brotloser, superlative am brotlosesten)
- (literally) breadless
- (figurative) inviable, unsustainable, unable to sustain oneself
- brotlose Kunst ― unprofitable craft
- 1848, Friedrich Engels, Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England [The Condition of the Working Class in England], page 168:
- Diese Vermehrung der Spindelzahl an der Mule ist aber so bedeutend, daß dadurch ganze Schaaren[sic] von Arbeitern brotlos geworden sind; […]
- But this increase in the number of spindles at the mule is so significant that it has left whole hosts of workers without a livelihood; […]
Further reading edit
- “brotlos” in Duden online