unfeathered
Lacking any plumage
Unfeathered means lacking feathers—either naturally, as with a newly hatched bird, or by removal.
The word extends figuratively to anything stripped of ornamentation or covering: the unfeathered truth.
A famous definition of humans as "unfeathered bipeds" dates to ancient philosophy.
Stripped of natural covering
- strippedHad coverings removed
- nakedWearing no garments
- baldWithout hair on head
- shornCut close, as wool
smooth · hairless · glabrous · depilated · clean · skinned · nude · flesh
Without means to resist
- unprotectedWithout safeguard or shield
- exposedOut in open
- helplessUnable to act independently
- fragileEasily broken or damaged
delicate · susceptible · weak · insecure · unshielded · endangered · at-risk · threatened
denuded
Stripped of natural covering
shorn · smooth · hairless · glabrous · depilated · clean · skinned · nude · flesh · raw
defenseless
Without means to resist
- unprotectedWithout safeguard or shield
- exposedOut in open
- helplessUnable to act independently
fragile · delicate · susceptible · weak · insecure · unshielded · endangered · at-risk · threatened · assailable
dressed
Wearing garments
chicken · turkey · duck · goose · fowl · quail · pheasant · squab · capon · guinea-fowl
feather, plucked, feathered, feathering, featherless, defeathered