different between prosaic vs bloodless

English

Etymology

From Middle French prosaïque, from Medieval Latin prosaicus (“in prose”), from Latin prosa (“prose”), from prorsus (“straightforward, in prose”), from Old Latin provorsus (“straight ahead”), from pro- (“forward”) + vorsus (“turned”), from vert? (“to turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, to bend”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /p????ze?.?k/
• (US) IPA^(key): /p?o??ze?.?k/
• Rhymes: -e??k

Adjective

prosaic (comparative more prosaic, superlative most prosaic)

1. Pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose.

   Antonym: poetic

2. (of writing or speaking) Straightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry.

3. (main usage, usually of writing or speaking but also figurative) Overly plain, simple or commonplace, to the point of being boring.

   Synonyms: humdrum, dull, unimaginative; see also Thesaurus:boring

   • 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, The Whisperer in Darkness, chapter 6:

     Their steepness and abruptness were even greater than I had imagined from hearsay, and suggested nothing in common with the prosaic objective world we know.

Related terms

• prosaically
• prosaicness
• prose

Translations

Anagrams

• Caprios, ipocras, picaros

English

Alternative forms

• bloudless (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English blodles, from Old English bl?dl?as (“bloodless”), equivalent to blood +? -less. Cognate with Dutch bloedeloos (“bloodless”), German blutlos (“bloodless”), Danish blodløs (“bloodless”), Swedish blodlös (“bloodless”), Icelandic blóðlaus (“bloodless”).

Adjective

bloodless (comparative more bloodless, superlative most bloodless)

1. Lacking blood; ashen, anaemic.
   • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, Act III, Scene 1,^[1]

     Thou dost not slumber: see, thy two sons’ heads,

     Thy warlike hand, thy mangled daughter here:

     Thy other banish’d son, with this dear sight

     Struck pale and bloodless; and thy brother, I,

     Even like a stony image, cold and numb.

   • 1956, James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room, Penguin, 2001, Part One, Chapter 2,

     The face was white and thoroughly bloodless with some kind of foundation cream; it stank of powder and a gardenia-like perfume.

2. Taking place without loss of blood.

   a bloodless conquest; a bloodless coup d'état; a bloodless revolution; a bloodless victory

3. Lacking emotion, passion or vivacity.
   • 1937, “No. 1 Rumanian,” Time, 8 February, 1937,^[2]

     Those Philharmonic subscribers who considered Guest Conductor Igor Stravinsky too bloodless and ascetic […] last week found his successor, Georges Enesco, more to their taste.

Derived terms

• bloodlessly
• bloodlessness

Translations