Receiving no favors, advantages, or special kindness; not favored or preferred.
Combines 'favour' with the suffix '-less' (meaning without), following the Old English pattern of negation. This construction allows speakers to express the absence of something quickly and efficiently.
The '-less' suffix is one of English's most productive word-building tools—you can stick it onto almost anything (fearless, homeless, pointless) and instantly create its opposite. It's an elegant linguistic hack that's been working since Anglo-Saxon times.
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