Tongueless

Tongueless is an adjective describing the condition of lacking a tongue. In medical and anatomical contexts it may refer to congenital absence, destruction, or surgical removal of the tongue, and it can also be used metaphorically to describe speechlessness or silence in fiction and rhetoric.

In medicine, complete absence of the tongue is called aglossia. More commonly, tongueless states arise after a glossectomy, the surgical removal of all or part of the tongue. There are also terms such as glossal agenesis for failure of tongue development. Individuals with a tongueless condition typically face significant challenges with speech and swallowing and may rely on therapy, assistive devices, or alternative communication methods.

The term is not tied to a single diagnosis and may be used descriptively across contexts, from anatomy to literature. It is distinct from related terms such as muteness or being tongue-tied, which describe different causes or states of speech.

Etymology: the word combines tongue from Old English tunge with the suffix -less meaning without.

See also: aglossia; glossal agenesis; glossectomy; mutism.