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futility

futility

29 7.0
A feeling or situation when something is useless because it cannot succeed
  • noun
  • /fjuːˈtɪləti/
translation icon : futilidad
  • The man goes back to work somewhat depressed by the futility of the venture.
  • medical futility
  • sense of futility
  • exercise in futility

But but other than that, this whole primary seems to be an exercise in futility.

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Examples

  • Sometimes she wondered if he would ever see the futility of trying to spite her.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Trusting people is the greatest exercise in futility that we have in this world.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • At a certain point, the futility begins to eat into you.

  • I mean, you, you can see the futility of what I'm trying to do here.

  • So I was wondering what subject I could take to demonstrate the futility of war.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Don't you see the futility of your actions?

  • Trying to forget anything as intriguing as this would be an exercise in futility.

  • Later, in many ways, it mirrors the pervading sense of futility in modern military intervention.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Someday you'll see the futility in forging a musical career with those idiots.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • After years of effort without any progress, he finally accepted the futility of trying to change the situation.

Synonyms

waste of time
vsfutility
126 2.7

An activity that takes time but does not help you

focuses on actions failing to reach results rather than time lost
emptiness
vsfutility
58 5.3

A feeling that life has no meaning

emphasizes inability to achieve results, not only an absence of meaning
uselessness
vsfutility
6 4.3

A state in which something does not help or have value

highlights failure to obtain results, making actions pointless rather than just idle
ineffectiveness
vsfutility
6 5.4

Not able to produce the result you want

emphasizes actions are pointless because no result can be achieved
total waste of time
vsfutility
4 3.9

An activity that uses your time but does not help you

is the general quality that makes such events unable to succeed
meaninglessness
vsfutility
4 7.6

A feeling that what you do has no purpose or value

focuses on failed outcomes and pointlessness rather than only lack of meaning
waste of energy
vsfutility
3 2.9

An action that uses effort but achieves nothing useful

is the broader state showing efforts cannot produce any outcome
worthlessness
vsfutility
3 6.3

A feeling that you have no value or importance

is about failing to produce results and being practically pointless
pointlessness
vsfutility
2 6.2

A state when something has no purpose or use

stresses failure to succeed in producing results rather than mere lack of purpose
waste of effort
vsfutility
1 3.8

An action that uses time and energy but gives no useful result

is the general quality that makes such actions unable to achieve results
1 4.3

A thing like time or money that is completely useless and gives no benefit

expresses the general state where attempts cannot achieve any benefit
unproductiveness
vsfutility
7.1

Not doing much useful work or making progress

focuses on the underlying pointlessness when efforts cannot succeed
inutility
vsfutility
  • Archaic
9.9

A state of not being useful

points to actions failing to achieve outcomes rather than mere lack of purpose
unusefulness
vsfutility
9.2

A situation when something is not helpful and has no clear purpose

refers more to inability to achieve a goal, not only lacking practical effect

Antonyms

140 3.5

The ability to make something work as planned

40 1.6

How much something helps people in practical situations

How Futile

uselessness
6 4.3
futility
29 7.0
inefficacy
1 8.7

Surface Forms

futility singular
futilities plural

Morphology

futility = futile (transparent) = futile + ity

A regular nominalization: 'futile' + '-ity' yields the state or quality of being futile, so the meaning is directly derived.

Etymology

Futility comes from the Latin futilis, which meant 'leaky' or 'that pours out', like a container that cannot hold water. A helpful image is a leaky bucket — trying to fill it is pointless, and that is why futility means something is useless or cannot succeed.