scaleless

Lacking fish armor

Scaleless describes something lacking scales—the small overlapping plates that cover fish, reptiles, and certain other animals.

A scaleless fish like a catfish has smooth skin instead of the typical protective covering.

The word also applies figuratively to anything missing a usual layer or gradation: a scaleless thermometer, scaleless justice (without the balanced scales of fairness).

fish

catfish

Barbeled freshwater bottom-feeder

  • eelElongated scaleless fish
  • hagfishJawless, slime-producing marine fish
  • lampreyJawless parasitic fish

shark · ray · loach · goby · carp · sturgeon · paddlefish · chimaera · stickleback · mola

smooth

slippery

Lacking friction, hard-to-grasp

slick · bare · naked · aerodynamic · streamlined · frictionless · glabrous · hairless · unarmored · exposed

reptile

snake

Limbless scaled reptile

amphibian · salamander · frog · toad · newt · smooth · moist · permeable · shedding · herpetology

mutation

genetic

Relating to heredity

  • breedingReproductive cultivation of organisms
  • morphChange form gradually
  • variantDiffering form of something

selective breeding · heritable · recessive · dominant · ball python · corn snake · pet trade · albino · phenotype · genotype

Categories
Opposites
surface covering/texture

scalelessscaled

Climbed or plated

scaly · squamous · imbricate · plated · keeled

protective body armor

scalelessarmored

Protected by metal covering

armoured · mailed · plated · carapaced · shielded

Family

scale, scales, scaly, upscale, scaling, downscale, upscaled, upscaling, rescale

Familiarity
Top 500,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G