Ehrlos

Ehrlos is a German adjective meaning "without honor" or "dishonorable." It is formed from the noun Ehre (honor) and the suffix -los, which signals absence. The word is used to describe people, actions, or behavior judged as morally lacking.

In usage, ehrlos appears most often in historical, literary, or moralizing contexts rather than in casual speech. It can refer to a person deemed to lack honor, as in ein ehrloser Mann, or to deeds considered without moral merit, such as eine ehrlose Tat. The term conveys strong moral condemnation and is typically found in evaluative or descriptive passages.

Grammatically, ehrlos behaves like a typical German adjective. It can appear attributively ("ehrlose Taten," "eine ehrlose Handlung," "ehrlose Männer") and can be used predicatively with sein ("Er ist ehrlos"), though the predicative use tends to be formal or archaic in tone.

Etymologically, ehrlos is closely related to andere Familienmitglieder of the same root, such as Ehrlosigkeit (dishonor) and the contrasting terms ehrlich (honest) and ehrenhaft (honorable). The word is primarily a descriptive term rather than a named entity, and it is rarely used as a proper noun.

See also: Ehre, ehrenhaft, ehrlich.