sans

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
4
Words With Friends
5
Letters
4
Pronunciation
/sænz/ (UK)
See all 2 pronunciations
/sænz/ (UK) · /sɑ̃/ (UK)

Definition of sans

5 senses · 3 parts of speech · etymology included

prep

  1. (defective, humorous, literary)Without; lacking, especially with regard to something expected or with precedent
    “Bero[wne]. […] And to begin Wench, ſo God helpe me law, My loue to thee is ſound, ſance cracke or flaw. Roſa[line]. Sans, ſans, I pray you.”
    “Those with brooms started to sweep literally, at the feet of the crowd, driving it back into the side streets from which it had emerged to form this assembly – now riders sans steeds.”
    “But regardless of when Wally had parked himself out in that backyard—sans coat or jacket—somehow, the old lady must have known where Wally would be before he drove out to the Isaacs trailer—or else she followed him out there from his house.”
    “Skin needs ultraviolet radiation to begin the synthesis of vitamin D, but dermatologists say you can probably get the necessary electromagnetic input from a mere 20 minutes of sun exposure a week, as you go about your daily affairs, sunblocked and sans beach.”
    “The fella in question was still sitting at his table, sans everything above the neckerchief. There was blood everywhere, and brain matter, and bits of skull, and what looked like very expensive bone china.”
See all 5 definitions

prep

  1. (defective, humorous, literary)Without; lacking, especially with regard to something expected or with precedent
    “Bero[wne]. […] And to begin Wench, ſo God helpe me law, My loue to thee is ſound, ſance cracke or flaw. Roſa[line]. Sans, ſans, I pray you.”
    “Those with brooms started to sweep literally, at the feet of the crowd, driving it back into the side streets from which it had emerged to form this assembly – now riders sans steeds.”
    “But regardless of when Wally had parked himself out in that backyard—sans coat or jacket—somehow, the old lady must have known where Wally would be before he drove out to the Isaacs trailer—or else she followed him out there from his house.”
    “Skin needs ultraviolet radiation to begin the synthesis of vitamin D, but dermatologists say you can probably get the necessary electromagnetic input from a mere 20 minutes of sun exposure a week, as you go about your daily affairs, sunblocked and sans beach.”
    “The fella in question was still sitting at his table, sans everything above the neckerchief. There was blood everywhere, and brain matter, and bits of skull, and what looked like very expensive bone china.”

adj

  1. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, not-comparable)Ellipsis of sans serif.

noun

  1. (form-of, plural)plural of san
  2. (form-of, plural)plural of SAn
  3. (form-of, plural)plural of SAN

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English saunz, sans, borrowed from Old French sans, senz, sens, from Latin sine (“without”) conflated with absēns (“absent, remote”). Compare French sans, Italian senza, Portuguese sem, and Spanish sin.

Words you can make from sans

5 playable · top: ASS (3 pts)

Best play ass 3 points

3-letter words

1 word

2-letter words

3 words

Find your best play with sans

See every word you can make from a set of letters that includes sans, or browse word lists you can mine for high-scoring plays.