Definition of "airless"

[…] St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company

The worst that can—and has—been said about Memento is that it’s an airless gimmick, visually undistinguished, and not even all that sophisticated when the puzzle pieces are finally put together.

2012 November 8, Scott Tobias, “Memento’s puzzle structure hides big twists and bigger profundities”, in The AV Club‎