windowless
C2Pronunciation
UK
- /wˈɪndəʊləs/
US
- /ˈwɪndoʊləs/
Description
- without windows
- with no view outside
- shut off from daylight
A windowless room has no windows at all. Picture a basement office, a storage room, a secure server room, or an inside room in a large building. These spaces may be built that way for privacy, safety, or because they are located far from an outside wall. A windowless place often feels closed in because there is no daylight and no view outside.
Imagine stepping into a room and realizing there is no glass, no daylight, and no view outside. That is what windowless usually means: a room, building, or part of a structure that has no windows. It is a clear, physical description, and it is most often used for places rather than for people or ideas.
You might hear it used for a windowless office, hallway, bathroom, basement room, storage area, or server room. In some cases, the design is intentional. A space may be built without windows for privacy, security, temperature control, or because it sits in the middle of a larger building. In other cases, the word simply helps explain why a place feels dark, closed in, or separate from the outdoors.
The word often carries a feeling as well as a fact. A windowless room can seem quiet, dull, stuffy, or even uncomfortable, especially if someone spends many hours there. In stories, a windowless room may suggest secrecy, tension, or isolation. A detective might wait in a windowless interview room, or a night worker might spend long shifts in a windowless office lit only by lamps and screens.
Although a writer may occasionally use the word in a creative or metaphorical way, that is not its main everyday use. In normal English, windowless is best understood as a practical word for spaces that do not have windows.
Examples
- 1
Waiting room
They put us in a small, windowless room to wait.
- 2
Office life
She spends most of the day in a windowless office, so she eats lunch outside whenever she can.
- 3
Police interview
The police led him into a windowless interview room.
- 4
Photo storage
We keep the old photos in a cool, windowless basement to protect them from sunlight.
Forms and spellings
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Main spelling
- windowlessadjective