breathless

Etymology

From breath + -less.

adj

1. Having difficulty breathing; gasping.
   In thoughtless and breathless fear I rushed forward to avoid this host of demons, but while flying thus still more frightful and distorted shapes appeared, and I fancied I felt their hands clutching me. 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 281
2. That makes one hold one's breath (with excitement etc.).
   By that stage Sevilla were down to 10 men and Jorge Sampaoli, their manager, had been sent to the stands as a breathless encounter started to spiral out of control. March 14, 2017, Stuart James, “Leicester stun Sevilla to reach last eight after Kasper Schmeichel save”, in the Guardian
   The plane buzzed on at a breathless speed. Bob had been in a plane before, and he had no fear. Indeed, but for the strange circumstances, he would have enjoyed that breathless rush through space. 1934, Frank Richards, The Magnet: The Mystery of the Vaults
3. Not breathing; dead or apparently so.
4. Having no wind; still, calm or airless.
5. Having a somewhat hysterical tone, using over-emotive language.
   In breathless prose that risks making Dr Pachauri, who will be 70 this year, a laughing stock among the serious, high-minded scientists, 30 Jan 2010, Robert Mendick, Amrit Dhillon, “Revealed: the racy novel written by the worlds most powerful climate scientist”, in Daily Telegraph
   The more some of us learn, the harder it gets to take each breathless headline seriously. May 21, 2018, T.A. Frank, “Has The Don Jr. bombshell blown up the Trump-Russia case?”, in Vanity Fair