In a way that is without protection, defense, or the ability to resist or fight back.
From defenceless (adjective, British spelling: defence + -less) + -ly (adverb suffix). 'Defence' comes from Latin 'defendere.' The '-less' suffix means 'without,' dating to Old English.
The British spelling 'defencelessly' shows how '-ness' languages preserve history—spelling it with 'c' instead of 's' tells scholars this word followed British conventions, helping us track where academic writing originated.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.