legless

To be legless usually means having no legs. It can describe a person, though people often use more careful wording in real life depending on the situation. It is also used for animals that naturally have no legs, such as snakes and some kinds of lizards. In informal English, especially in Britain and Australia, it can also mean very drunk, so drunk that a person can barely stand or walk. The word paints a strong picture in either sense: no legs in a literal way, or no control of the legs after too much drink.

Legless most directly means without legs. It can describe a person or animal that has no legs, whether by nature, birth condition, injury, or surgery. In the natural world, it is often used for creatures such as snakes and legless lizards. In this literal sense, the word is straightforward: it describes the absence of legs.

The word also has a common informal meaning in British English, Australian English, and some other varieties of English. If someone is legless, they are extremely drunk. The idea is that they are so affected by alcohol that they cannot stand or walk properly, as if their legs are useless. For example: "By the end of the night, he was absolutely legless and had to get a taxi home."

You may also see the word in older or descriptive writing where the image matters. Still, the two main meanings are the important ones for learners: literally without legs, and informally very drunk. The broader figurative ideas of weakness or helplessness are not the main standard meanings of the word itself, so they should not be treated as the core sense of legless.